At Loose Ends
by meirisuuu
Summary: It's been 15 years since the famed Winx Club went on a mission and never came back, devastating everyone. Now, a mysterious new evil has appeared and is hellbent on destroying everything and anything, and all eyes are on the Winx's children to get the job done, whether they want to or not. And maybe tie some loose ends about their mothers while they're at it...Winx Next Gen Fic
1. 0 - Praefacio

**Author's notes: Hi. This is the Next Gen fic I mentioned in one of the chapters of FFY. Yes, I know the Winx Next Gen has been done to death and most of you are probably sick of it but give me a chance, please? I had this idea for over a year and a lot of thought went into it, lots of changes and trial and error and, err, yeah. I put a lot of effort into this so I hope you'd at least give this a chance :)**

 **I tried avoiding a lot of cliches as possible, but I couldn't help with some of them. I tried making them of varying ages and the Winx not only had daughters, but sons as well. I tried making them different from their parents but at the same time, shares some similarities as well. The enemy isn't heard of but she's kind of threatening. And etc etc,**

 **This chapter is really long and just to let you know, this isn't the usual length of the rest of the chapters. I just wanted to get the introductions over with.**

 **Enough dawdling, on to the story!**

* * *

 ** _-Before-_**

 _The night was an eerily quiet night, the full moon was the only one illuminating its pale light in the dark forest and a small, lone house residing in it. The only sound was a murder of crows cawing before the dark birds flew away as a man's screams erupted in the small house, a light gleam of a sharp knife aimed directly at him in the hands of a small child, a dark aura illuminating behind the child. "Please...! Don't do this, I beg you- I'm your father! Please, Pol-" The man's pleas fell on deaf ears, and the man eventually quieted down. Before the light diminished from the man's eyes, he managed to heave out a word, "W...why...?"_

 _The child's eyes were devoid of remorse or empathy, yet his lips formed into an eerily gleeful smile. "Honour and praise our great master, Neme-" He was about to say in a rather monotone voice but was interrupted by a woman's screams, he turned and looked at another horrific sight._

 _"Art- please!" Sinister laughter filled the room as another child, presumably the previous child's sister pushed a woman into a large, blazing hot oven. The flames roared and grew bigger as the woman's agonised cries sounded throughout the household and even the forest. The two children didn't seem bothered at all as they exchanged looks and giggled in delight at their 'masterpiece', their dark auras growing bigger and bigger as if pleased with their work._

 _After the woman's cries and the flames died, the children grinned at one another as they held one another's hands, before skipping happily to some bookshelf. The boy pulled out one of the books on the shelf and suddenly a noise came out of it, and before they knew it, the bookshelf slid to the side automatically, revealing a locked door, much to their delight. Knowing that the door had some sort of magical lock, the boy backed off and the girl held her arms out, focusing her magical energy. A loud explosion and a broken door later, the children grinned once more as they entered the room._

 _What they found in the room was a large, dark orb floating around, they knew what it was, and it was exactly what they were looking for. The Orb of Malice. With the girl's magical powers, she managed to split the orb into seven pieces, then, with her brother's help, gathered the orbs as they both ran outside, releasing the colourful orbs into the sky in an order. Blue, yellow, pink, red, purple, green, and white. It would've been a pretty side had the orbs not have such malicious and evil purposes, destined to destroy many people's lives._

 _"Where will they be going, dear sister?" The stupid brother asked._

 _"They will be scattered throughout the dimension, dear brother, where it will wreck havoc and turn the world to its knees." The wicked sister smirked._

 _The stupid brother smirked as well. "Perfect, our great master will be pleased."_

 _Meanwhile, inside the now empty home, a mirror glowed and in it appeared a hooded and masked woman filled with overwhelming disgust and pure wrath for the world. Seeing the two children outside with several, colourful orbs floating in the sky with malicious intentions, just like she told them to, the woman in the mirror gave a content and pleased smirk. Perfect, indeed._

 ** _-Present-_**

She sighed as she absentmindedly held her locket in her hand. Her father and her brother's furious voices behind the wall where they're having their daily shouting match as always. Liz leant on the wall and tried ignoring the voices, she clenched her locket, at this rate, she would be late for her first day if this goes on any longer. A thought suddenly sunk in her mind, and she gulped. She was finally going to Alfea, the prestigious fairy school her mother and her friends attended during their time. She couldn't help but feel a bit nervous, knowing the expectations that came with being a daughter of such a legend. Would she be like her mother? What about the other daughters, would they get along? Or will she fail everything miserably? Or-

"All packed, princess?" Someone suddenly interrupted her thoughts, Liz turned to the source of the voice, relaxing once she saw a blonde woman.

"I guess so," Liz, or Princess Elizabeth "Liz" of Eraklyon, Daughter of Queen Bloom and King Sky of Eraklyon, said quietly. "I'm just waiting for Hans to quit his screaming match with dad so we can go already."

"Ah," The woman nodded knowingly, "That boy, I swear. I don't know where he got his temper from but it's definitely giving your father a hard time." She smiled a motherly smile, and Liz smiled as well. With their real mother absent due to unknown circumstances, she and her brother, Crowned Prince Hansel, grew up with this woman as the closest thing to a mother figure, even if they're not related at all. King Sky originally wasn't very pleased with the woman's bond with his children, but let it go once realised the woman was a good influence to them, Hansel especially. The woman tilted her head at the princess, "Nervous about Alfea?" She asked.

"A little..." Liz murmured.

The woman put a comforting hand on Liz's shoulder. "You'll do fine, Elizabeth. I never went there myself but your mother did and she turned out great." She said, "Maybe you'll even follow in your mother's footsteps, or even be better than her. Just believe in yourself and you'll do fine."

Elizabeth gave a weak smile, "Thanks, Diaspro."

Diaspro returned the smile, before walking away. Elizabeth sighed as the fancy wooden door suddenly slammed open, she turned and saw her brother, with a pissed expression. Hansel took a deep breath, as if trying to relax, before turning to his sister. "Oh, there you are. I thought you already left me," Hans tried smiling, but it ended up looking quite strained. He grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her with him, "Are all your stuff in the ship already?" He asked her, and Liz nodded. "Great, let's leave this stupid place."

Liz could hear the door slam open yet again, "Prince Hansel Prescott of Eraklyon, I am not done with you!" Their father, King Sky, bellowed sternly. Hans ignored his father and kept walking, while Liz hesitantly turned back.

King Sky was about to chase his disrespectful son down until a voice stopped him, "Don't bother, King Sky." He turned and saw Diaspro, who was now a duchess of Eraklyon after marrying a high-class Duke. "Just let them be."

Sky glared at her. Despite Diaspro already moving on and is still head-over-heels to her husband for more than nineteen years, he still couldn't forgive her personally for attempting to ruin his and Bloom's relationships several years back, but at the same time, kind of thankful towards her for taking care of his son and daughter when he couldn't, even if she had her own children and political matters to attend to. But then again, he was also kind of jealous. Diaspro was closer to Hansel and Elizabeth more than Sky could ever dream of. "Stay out of this," He told her, "This is between Hansel and me."

Diaspro shook her head, not minding Sky's slightly aggressive tone. So, instead of retorting something hurtful like mentioning Bloom or him being a crappy father, she instead gave advice. "Try to understand him, Sky." She said.

"But I am!" Sky nearly shouts exasperatedly, pinching his nose in frustration. "Where did I go wrong?" It was more of a rhetorical question but Diaspro gladly answered.

"Ever since Hansel was little, he always wanted to spend time with you, but you were too busy as the King," Diaspro informed. Sky stared at the ground. "I'll let you finish the puzzle, great and glorious King Sky of Eraklyon." With that, Diaspro left.

Sky continued staring at the ground, realising one thing and one thing only.

He was a terrible father.

...

She stared at her hand mirror as she styled her hair on habit, before sighing as she glanced at her packed luggage. Brittany had a sort of deja vu moment as she continued staring, she has been in this situation before, it's not exactly new. Her first moment was two years ago when she was sixteen and was starting Alfea, she was nervous at the time, being the first Winx daughter to attend Alfea, but kept on a haughty facade as she went through her first year, which generated a few enemies. The second was just last year, when she was in her second year, she was less nervous and lowered her facade a bit, earning her new friends (two of them being daughters of the Winx). And this is probably the last time she'll experience this, it is her last year after all. She honestly didn't think it'd hit her this hard.

"Knock knock!" A sunny voice said outside her door, she rolled her eyes, knowing it was her brother.

"Sweetheart, are you packed now?" Another voice asked, which she recognised as her father.

"Yeah, daddy," Brittany, formerly known as Crowned Princess Brittany of Solaria, said as she put down the hand mirror and opened the door, revealing her father, also the King Dowager of Solaria, King Brandon, and her younger brother, Prince Stiles. "Are we going now?"

Brandon waved dismissively, "Nah, not yet." He smiled, "I just wanted to see you, both of you. You know, it's you and your brother's last year in Alfea and Red Fountain, after all."

"Yup!" Stiles grinned. Despite still being seventeen, Stiles is one of the seniors at Red Fountain (also Hansel's classmate and dorm mate), starting at only age fifteen, making him one of the younger Specialists at Red Fountain. A Specialist Prodigy, they refer the young Prince of Solaria as. Britanny was somewhat intimidated that her annoying little brother was getting more spotlight than her, but shrugged it off. She was future Queen after all, and is a respected student amongst the college, even the infamous Vice Headmistress Griselda, now the Headmistress after Faragonda retired, admitted to be more fond of her than her mother in the olden days. She was also fairly sure she'd be Guardian Fairy when she graduates.

"I'm proud of you, both of you," Brandon grinned as he hugged both of his children, catching both of them off guard. "If only Stella could see you now..." He whispered more to himself. Brittany was surprised, their father never really mentioned their mother before, and she barely had memories of the woman as Stella was gone before her fourth birthday, and she doubted Stiles even knew what their mother looked like had there not have been portraits of the famed Queen Stella around the castle. Britanny glanced at her brother, Stiles didn't seem to notice as he grinned.

"I'll make you even prouder!" Stiles grinned. He had always been a rather optimistic and humble person, maybe kind of naive, but people found it more endearing than annoying. Brittany, on the other hand, was a bit haughty and arrogant due to her status as the crowned princess, and she always gave this judgmental and condescending vibe around people, even if she's not really like that at all, except towards a certain blond rival, but that's about it.

Brandon grinned at his son and ruffled his hair, both of them laughing. Brandon continued laughing but abruptly stopped upon glancing at a certain photograph by his daughter's nightstand. The photo consisted of four people- no, a family. The normally fashion-savvy couple wore rather simple and sort-of matching outfits, with the blonde woman looking at her husband with such love and adoration, as her husband embraced her and the children to the same degree. In there arms, there were two children; a brunette little girl at the tender age of three with pigtails and a pretty dress, and a boy, much younger than the girl, with neatly styled blond hair and a bright smile. Brandon turned back to his kids with a smile.

"Your mother would be so proud of you,"

...

She strolled along the forest as she fidgeted with her ring, looking for something to photograph. It was going to be her last day on her home realm before she goes to a certain prestigious school for fairies, so she had to make some sort of remembrance even if she has hundreds upon hundreds of photos in her camera already. Still, Emma wanted one last, or maybe a couple more, photos to remember Linphea by.

"Boo," a monotone voice suddenly said flatly, and despite the surprise's lack of effort, she still flinched and was quite startled by it.

"Leon, stop scaring me like that," Emily scolded her older brother with a frown. He had always had a reputation of being so quiet that he often gives people heart attacks when he actually talks and being his sister and all you'd expect her to get used to his sneakiness by now.

Her brother, Leonard, also known as Leon, blinked at his sister, his usual blank expression plastered on his face. "A bit too jumpy today, are we?"

She turned away from him, "It's nothing," She looked around at for a potential photogenic shot in an attempt to distract herself from her nerves about the new school she's going to attend and of course, her brother.

Leon continued staring at his sister, quirking a brow as he examined her posture and expression. He was always a rather observant person, he could tell right away what a person is thinking or feeling at just even the slightest glance. It was a talent that Emma unfortunately didn't have herself. "You're nervous." It wasn't a question. But honestly, who could blame her?

She let out an exasperated, "I'm fine, Leon."

Leon narrowed his eyes at his sister and frowned. Oh no, she thought. He's going to do one of those psychic readings of his again, and she's honestly scared. Other than his observant nature, he was also rather superstitious and kind of psychic, developing interest in signs, horoscopes, numerology, stuff like that, and practices them on people. Most of his readings come out pretty accurate most times and if his readings say something negative, well, good luck to her... "Oh. That's rather odd." The boy's usual blank face contorted into a rather surprised tone.

Emma's eyes widen. This isn't good. This isn't good at all. "What? What does it say?!"

Her brother tapped his chin as if he was confused. That is a bad sign, Leon is rarely confused. "It's rather vague...something like 'history will repeat itself'."I don't know, I'm confused as well."

"What? Does that mean I'll fall off a flight of stairs again?!" Emma asked in a panicked tone, recalling the time she ran a little too fast on a long flight of stairs and lost her footing. It was a rather traumatising experience. Maybe it's something worse? What if it's something worse?! Leon shook his head.

"I don't know. The reading seems more...serious than that, maybe an actual historical event or something like that. Don't think about it too much, it's just one of my silly readings." He brushed it off so easily, but Emma couldn't help but feel more nervous after the rather vague reading. "Come on, let's go already. I've been to Alfea a couple of times last year and know a couple of people there as well. You know my roommate, Cal, right? Well, his sister goes to Alfea and she seems to enjoy herself. You'll do fine." He smiled as he teasingly poked his sister's forehead, Emma pouted as Leon started to walk away.

Emma took a look around the forest of Linphea one more time, before smiling as she ran to catch up with her brother. She may be nervous, but she's rather excited as well. New friends, new stuff to learn. She's excited. "Okay!"

...

She softly strummed her guitar with her favourite pick as she hummed a newly invented tune. Her room was quiet save for the guitar and her humming, so she wasn't at all startled when she heard footsteps out her door with some giggling. Not looking up from her guitar, she said, "I know you're out there, Rhys. How many times does it take for you to understand that I won't fall for your stupid pranks?"

Slowly, the door creaked open, and out popped a boy who is nearly a carbon copy of their father, yet unlike the man, the boy actually wore his hair down like a sane person. "Still the killer of fun, I see." The boy, Rhys, said with a grin after pouting like some puppy. He came in the room nonchalantly despite his sister's protest and plopped down on her bed.

"Didn't I tell you to never never enter my room?" Maxine, or commonly known as Max, frowned as she stared down at her brother. The boy was always a such a cheeky and annoying little thing, and despite knowing deep inside that she loves him as he is her brother, she still couldn't help but feel a pang of annoyance whenever the boy opens his mouth.

"You said 'never' twice that time so technically it's a double negative and so it means I _can_ enter your room!" Rhys grinned, before pushing himself off of her bed and stretching his neck. "Anyways, grandpa says we'd better get going. It's a long way from here to Magix, ya know." He gave another grin at her, but it's a softer grin. "What're we waiting for?! I can't wait to go to Red Fountain! Let's go!" He ran out of her room, presumably to get his stuff and to get shotgun in their ship.

Max blinked and pursed her lips, before shaking her head as she put her guitar in its case and picked up her luggage, which wasn't much, she wasn't that materialistic. As she walked to the door, she glanced at her room once more, specifically at a family photo on her desk. With a sigh, she flipped the photo down with her magic as she left the room and went to the ship which will take them to Magix, in which her brother was already in.

"Bye, Grandpa!" Rhys waved with a smile as Max got in the vehicle herself. Hoboe gladly returned the smile to his grandson as the ship flew away, he had been taking care of his grandchildren ever since his daughter was gone, his no-good son-in-law dropping the children to his door so he could go on to his travels. Honestly, Hoboe didn't mind spending time with his grandchildren, but if only Riven had the decency to be part of their lives even after he lost his wife. Speaking of the devil...

Almost as soon as his grandkids' ship flew off, a wind rider suddenly pulled over in front of the home. Hurriedly, the man in the vehicle got off of it and pulled his helmet out, revealing spiked maroon hair. Seeing Hoboe's disappointed expression, Riven's face fell as well. "Max and Rhys already left, didn't they...?" He quietly asked. Hoboe nodded and sighed, but motioned his son-in-law to come inside. Riven complied. "I wanted to be there for them, at least this one time," Riven murmured as he and the older man sat in the living room. "I wanted to tell Rhys my techniques when I was in Red Fountain, and wish Max good luck for her second year..." He buried his face in his hands. "I'm such a terrible father."

"Couldn't argue with that," Hoboe shook his head. "But you can still redeem yourself, boy. Rhys still looks up at you and, though Max had spoken unpleasant things about you, I bet she misses you as well." Riven didn't say anything, still filled with regret at his crappy parenting. He didn't want to be like his mother, but he did anyway. "You know...Max looks exactly like her whenever she laughs." He said, attempting to lighten the mood. Riven still didn't say anything, but his mouth twitched. "And Rhys! Not only does he look like you, but I can see that he probably got your temperament as well. Sweet and cheerful at first, but is also easily angered."

Riven gave a small smile, talking about his children lightened up his mood. "I sure hope not."

...

She was biting into the temple tips of her glasses as she wandered aimlessly on the realm wide web on her three screened and advanced computer when a pop up appeared, revealing she had mail. She raised a brow, it was from her father. What could he want from her, now? She rarely ever received anything from her father other than generic messages and materialistic objects, so she was curious.

 _"Celine,_

 _You and your brother are now sophomores in your respective schools, and...I'm really proud of you two for that, and I'm sure your mother would have been as well. You two grow up so fast, I can't believe it's been fifteen years since you still blew raspberries at your brother whenever you had the chance, or do you still do that?_

 _Anyway, I may have not been the best or most active father around, but just know that I love you, both of you. And I'm really proud of you. As a 'back-to-school' gift, I have bought you two something that you'll probably enjoy, it will arrive tomorrow in your respective schools. I hope you enjoy it and I wish you luck for the school year!_

 _Sincerely, your father._

 _P. S. Don't get yourself into trouble this time, please. I had to receive an earful from Griselda from that 'little' prank you pulled on the security system._

Celine, or Cel, as she's usually called, face was blank as she was reading through the email. When she finished reading, her face still remained straight, although upon closer inspection, one can see the edge of her lips twitch into a small smile, though it was brief. "Stupid, stupid dad." She shook her head at her father's awkward and shameless email, and though she seemed more annoyed at the email, deep inside she felt personally offended. An email, really? Not a phone call, a hologram, or even a voice message. An email. Can he get even more 'professional' and detached from his children? Who even uses emails nowadays?

Someone suddenly knocked on her door, and she knew exactly who it was. "Cel, we're ready to leave and if you're still not there by twenty seconds, I will leave without you." Her brother's voice rang in the voice box thing.

With a flick of her finger, her computer turned off and she carried her luggage, "A stupid brother, as well." She muttered as she opened her door, there stood a boy shared the same face as her, and yet at the same time, looked so different from her.

"I heard that," Her brother, Callum, or commonly known as Cal, snapped at his sister. Bring the brother of such a sharp tongued girl, you'd think he'd get used to it by now.

"Cry me a river then, little brother." Cel said as she handed her luggage to her brother. Cal rolled his eyes and accepted her luggage, not bothering to retort something about him being the real older one as he knew it would just sprout some useless argument as always, to which his sister would always win.

"Whatever," Cal scoffed as they passed by their grandparents and bid their goodbyes, before leaving to go to Magix City. Not knowing how exciting, yet dangerous this school year will be.

...

She slowly emerged from the water, her favorite seashell in her hand as she got out of the water. Despite different kinds of seashells, from large to small, common to ultra rare, this small, simple seashell somehow always was her favorite. She quickly put a towel around her as she went back to the royal palace, ready to dry herself and pack the things she had forgot to pack the night before for her last year at the famed school for fairies. It was a rather sad thought, she decided. She really felt like Alfea was home in the two-three years she attended, but she'd better make the best of it, she guessed.

As Princess Lana walked through the familiar halls of her home, she passed by the slightly ajar door of her brother's room. There were many beeps and other childish and bright music along with the voice of her brother. "C'mon, heal me already! I'm ready to kick some butt!" Prince Kyler, also known as 'Kai', whined as he bit into something, a chocolate bar, perhaps?

"Kai?" Lana peeked into her brother's room with a slight knock. The boy's room was a mess, sure it was expected of a teenage boy, but this was a prince we're talking about. But then again, Kyler barely lets anyone clean his room...

"Mhmm?" Kai quirked his head towards her curiously, not caring about the game much.

"Are you all packed?" Lana asked. Unlike her, Kai was always...irresponsible and lazy. He didn't care about exercise, barely played sports, doesn't clean his room, and avoided responsibilities as much as possible. While she, raised to be a future ruler of a great kingdom, was raised to be responsible and active with a love for sports and a knack in leadership.

"Yup." He answered briefly. Lana quirked a brow.

"Did you speak with dad?" She asked.

"Nope." He answered more briefly, and Lana sighed. There was a lot of strain between Kai and Nex's once perfect father and son relationship the moment the boy decided to attend Red Fountain instead of the Paladin school Nex once attended after he found out that being a Paladin was harder than a usual Specialist, and he always did prefer blue over red anyway, obviously Nex wasn't very pleased by it but their relationship worsened when Kai was adamant about something for once. As far as Lana knew, they aren't really on speaking terms as of now, and Kai isn't the type to change his mind so easily, like a stubborn toddler.

"You need to talk to dad before we go," Lana informed, Kai rolled his eyes and shrugged as his sister exited his room and went to her own. As she dried her usually thick and wavy hair, her eyes wandered on to the luggage on the corner of her room, she couldn't help but smile. She can't wait to hang out with her friends again, and spend time with her dorm mates. Brittany, despite her mother's reputation, was a fairly nice roommate, responsible too. Cel and Max were a...unique pair, to say the least, though they bickered on the smallest things and called each other names, they were still close and is fun to hang around with. She had theorized at one point that Bloom and Flora's daughters will soon occupy the vacant room this year, and while her dorm mates expressed skepticism, they agreed in a bet. Brittany and Max didn't think that they'd share the same dorm or at least hoped not, and she and Cel believed the opposite. She's certain she's going to win that bet.

She hoped that this will be a nice school year.

* * *

 **Author's notes: So yeah, this is my next gen fic :) Yay or nay? Also, I know the idea of the Winx and Specialists having both a daughter and a son is weird but I couldn't help it, I didn't want any of them to be left out as being an only child can be very lonely (source: me).**

 **I didn't include their appearances in the story since some of them I didn't know where to put it, so here's the list (along with their personalities). I know it betrays the purpose of the entire 5000 word chapter but eh:**

* * *

 **Bloom and Sky's children:**

 **Crowned Prince Hansel "Hans"-** an arrogant prince who looks down and treats most people with contempt, can be nice to some people though and is an overachiever, has daddy issues. Medium length blond hair that he ties for special occasions, blue eyes, fair skin. 18, Red Fountain Senior

 **Princess Elizabeth "Liz"-** a more humble and nice girl compared to her brother. Has zero leadership skills and is kind of a know it all. Loves reading story books and is really creative. An under achiever. Long, wavy red-orange hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. 16, Alfea Freshman

 **Stella and Brandon's children:**

 **Crowned Princess Brittany-** a beautiful socialite who cares a bit too much about her reputation. Can come across as condescending and judgemental but in reality she really doesn't care about people's lives as long as they're nice and wear acceptable clothing. Takes her role as heir very seriously and strives to be a great ruler someday, very savvy in politics. Tanned skin, long, wavy brown hair, and matching eyes. 18, Alfea Senior

 **Prince Stiles-** a handsome, cheerful and humble boy, sort of naive, kind of a ladies magnet but is oblivious about it. Though don't mistake his naivety for stupidity, as he's actually kind of clever when he needs to be. A really fashionable guy too. Specialist Prodigy. Messy blond hair with brown roots, brown eyes, and tanned skin. 17, Red Fountain senior

 **Flora and Helia's children:**

 **Leonard "Leon"-** a quiet, introverted boy. He's that one quiet art kid that won't talk unless spoken to. Can easily tell one's problems just by looking at them, has interest in numerology, tarot cards, star signs, etc. Really poetic too. Short, dark hair, tanned skin, and narrowed emerald green eyes. 17, Red Fountain Sophomore

 **Emily "Emma"-** a flighty girl with a love for photography. Gets startled easily and tends to overreact to even the most mundane of things. Has photographic memory, tends to fall in love easily. Might be a hipster. Light, tanned skin, long honey brown hair tied into a loose bun, and dark eyes. 16, Alfea Freshman

 **Musa and Riven's children:**

 **Maxine "Max"-** really quiet girl, always listening to music, has this weird ability of telling what kind of melody a person is. Lots of people say she has good music taste. Despite her quiet demeanor, she can leave quite an intimidating expression if you rub on her the wrong way. Is also a snitch, so she knows the latest gossip. Also really sarcastic. Long dark blue hair tied in a side ponytail, fair skin, and violet eyes. 17, Alfea Sophomore

 **Rhys- a** cheerful boy with a love for fighting and music. Looks up to his father although holds little resentment for leaving them. Really talented in music and adores the drums. Tends to get really angry easily despite his cheerful demeanor, and gets aggressive when angry. Surprisingly a math wiz. Fair skin, short, dark magenta hair (like Rin Matsuoka from Free!), and sharp blue eyes. 16, Red Fountain Freshman

 **Tecna and Timmy's children:**

 **Celine "Cel"-** a mischievous, sharp tongued, witty girl who loves throwing certain words around, can also be brutally honest. A closeted geek, may or may not make pop culture references. Tends to repress her emotions in exchange for snarky remarks. Short, magenta hair with slightly longer bangs (sort of like the Vocaloid, GUMI), fair skin, and hazel eyes. 17, Alfea Sophomore

 **Callum "Cal"-** an idealistic and smart, yet stubborn boy (sort of like Cheren from pkmn BW) with a love for puzzle solving. A nerd at heart, has lots of crushes on lots of people. Has a hard time identifying emotions. Short orange brown hair with his bangs on the side, teal eyes, and fair skin. 17, Red Fountain Sophomore

 **Layla and Nex (yes, I chose Nex)'s children:**

 **Crowned Princess Lana-** a chill, down to earth princess who gives excellent advice, the kind of person who worries about others (mostly those who are younger than her) than herself, a mom friend basically. Really intuitive. Loves physical activities and gets a little bit too excited whenever it's even mentioned. Tends to push herself over the limit. Long, curly brown hair tied into a neat ponytail, medium colored skin, and sharp golden eyes. 18, Alfea Freshman

 **Prince Kyler "Kai"-** a little boy stuck in a teenager's body, basically. Loves comics and video games and despises responsibilities. Tends to joke around at even the most tense or serious situations. Do not invite him to watch drama or horror movies, he'll make them into a comedy. Dark skin, cerulean eyes, and slicked back, dark brown hair. 16, Red Fountain Freshman (that created strain between him and his father)

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this! Feedback, whether it'd be positive or negative, is greatly appreciate!**

 **Until next time!**


	2. 1 - Praeludium

**Author's notes: Here's chapter two! Which is fitting as there's two reviews, two favorites, and two follows. Thank you btw :) I really appreciate it. I kind of hope for more of those in the future, if you guys don't mind :)**

* * *

 ** _-Before-_**

 _"A mission?"_

 _The famed Winx Club in front of their beloved Headmistress's desk in her office. Faragonda hadn't seen the girls, or rather...women, in quite a while and to say that they've grown since the first time they entered the college campus at the tender age of sixteen would be a mere understatement._

 _The naive earth girl known as Bloom was now a wise Queen of Eraklyon with knowledge of her true past and the popularity from her people. The bubbly fashionista known as Stella was now Queen of Solaria with her bubbly personality waning a bit but her fashionista side stuck. The shy and quiet Flora was now a well-loved professor in Linphea College after stepping out of her shy bubble. The tomboyish and rough Musa was now known all across the realms as a famous singer with a heart of gold. The logical and emotionally-devoid Tecna was now a royal adviser of King Cryos, using her intelligence and newly acquired empathy in good use. And the athletic and sassy known as Layla was now a beloved Queen of Andros, still enjoying sports every once in a while._

 _That's not even mentioning how all of them settled down with most of their boyfriends and had children with them. Boy, she felt old._

 _"Yes," Faragonda said in an urgent tone, as much as she wanted a reunion with her girls, it still had to wait. "An incident occurred last night, a couple who kept ancient artefacts and powerful spells in their isolated home was murdered, no one knew who did it but police had their suspicions of the couple's two children, Artemis and Apollo, both ten years old, who had reports with doing...quite malicious things before."_

 _"As much as I'd like to argue how two ten-year-olds wouldn't be able to overpower two grown adults, I'm wondering what do we have anything to do with this?" Tecna piped up. "Isn't it the Magix Police's job to catch who did it?"_

 _"Or are they just that incompetent?" Musa asked, crossing her arms._

 _Faragonda noticed their sceptical faces. "...Something was stolen that night, the orb of Malice."_

 _Bloom's ears perked up, "I read about it once," She said, "It is said that the orb has so much negative energy in it that it can corrupt even the purest of creatures at the slightest touch. There was a legend about it that said two children once stole the orb and split it into seven pieces, before releasing it to the world. Each of the orbs made people act a certain way like the orb of gluttony can make someone so gluttonous that they can eat the entire world and still be hungry, or the orb of envy can make someone so jealous to the point of killing people that get in the way of their beloved."_

 _"Yikes, remind me to never get near them, ever." Stella flinched._

 _"There is no evidence that the orb of Malice has ever been split until now," Faragonda informed. "Some of us has theorized that the tale might not be a legend at all..."_

 _"A prophecy," Flora finished with a gasp. She had read the tale before and to think that it would be true is terrifying. Faragonda nodded grimly._

 _"Okay, what do you want us to do, Miss F?" Layla asked, pumping her fists. "Find the orbs before it does any harm? Find the kids that did this and teach them a lesson? What?"_

 _"I need you, girls, to gather all the seven pieces as they are scattered all around the Magical Dimension, and at the same time, I need you to try and find out who is behind this and what their motives are. Arte and Pollo didn't just murder their parents and release the orbs all just for laughs, it appears to be premeditated and well planned. Someone must've told them to do those horrific things." The headmistress said. Eventually, she dropped her serious facade. "It will be a rather lengthy mission that will require you to be away for most times," She informed regrettably. The Winx looked at one another hesitantly, and Faragonda deflated. Of course, they'd be hesitant for this lengthy mission. They had kingdoms, jobs, husbands, and children to come home to. The Winx, as much as Faragonda didn't want to admit it, had grown up, and that in itself isn't a bad thing. The Winx were not the adventurous and righteous girls they once were. "You know, girls, you don't have to if you don't want to-"_

 _"Are you kidding me, Miss F? Of course we'll do it!" Musa grinned as she looked back at her best friends for more than a decade. "Right, girls?"_

 _"Yeah!" The girls cheered enthusiastically as they giggled in one another's arms like the best friends that they were. Faragonda smiled._

 _Maybe they were still the adventurous and righteous girls they once were._

 ** _-After-_**

Headmistress Griselda looked around the courtyard as students of varying ages and backgrounds went in the premises. Many were familiar faces greeting their friends and tackling them with hugs as soon as possible, while others were fairly new faces with this lost look in their eyes as they have no idea what to do and where to go. Her gaze shifted to the winged gates of the campus and there she saw more familiar faces, a bit too familiar for her taste.

"Princess Brittany of Solaria!" A bright, cheery voice declared. Brittany was recognized immediately so the brunette was let in the campus. The princess looked around the pink castle-like school as she flipped her hair, "Huh, nothing much changed, as always..."

Griselda smiled upon seeing the princess. She never thought at she could be so...fond of one of her least favorite student's daughter. Don't get her wrong, she loved and cared about Stella and the rest of the Winx like they were her daughters, but Brittany was surprisingly different compared to her mother. She never blew up the potions lab when she was in her first year, she never broke any major rules other than mere minor offenses that resulted in only verbal warnings, and she actually took her studies and position as heir quite seriously. Sure, she's quite the fashionista and socialite and can be quite bubbly but it's never really to the extreme.

After more students came in, another certain fairy was next. "Princess Lana of Andros, I guess." Lana shrugged, the vice headmistress smiled and let her in.

"Welcome back, Lana."

Ah, Princess Lana. Though at first glance, she could be mistaken as some sort of carbon copy of her mother, she's more than that. Other than their shared appearance and love for sports and physical activities, Lana is actually quite different. Instead of being sassy and intimidating as her mother, she's actually very nice and always eager to make new friends with a grin, while also deeply caring for her current friends. She was dubbed as 'the mom friend' by many students in and even outside the school, but like other mothers, she can also be quite intimidating and aggressive at times.

"Heyyy! Miss Mira! How've you been doing? Is Logan doing okay? I heard he got la-"

"It's Miss Mirta, Maxine. And I've been fine. I don't know nor do I want to know where you got that information about my son but he's doing okay. Come in." Mirta said in a monotone voice, used to Maxine's antics.

Maxine finger gunned at the vice headmistress as she slung her knapsack on her shoulder and dragged her suitcase with her as she came in. Max was an interesting one, Griselda decided. Though usually quiet and reserved, she was never the shy type. She can actually be quite intimidating if she wants to. Also rebellious, almost everyone in Magix knows to not mess with Maxine of Melody or anyone associated with her or else they might find out the next day that their deepest and darkest secrets have been let out by yours truly. A pretty terrifying girl, even Griselda had to admit. But Max acted casual and even silly around the professors so all was okay.

"...Can I pull myself out of the college without my father's stupid permission?"

"I'm afraid not, Celine. So you'd better make the best of it. Come in."

Celine cursed as she begrudgingly entered the campus. Celine was another interesting one, Griselda noted. An extremely cynical and witty girl who finds ways to make fun of absolutely everything, ranging from mundane things such as chairs and trigonometry...to things that got her in trouble, like the whole school and almost everyone around her. She was also very mischievous, often hacking the school's network and even other people's computers just because she felt like it. She was a very smart girl but it all goes to waste as she doesn't seem to take her studies seriously.

"Hi. I'm Emily of Linphea?"

Mirta's face brightened at the name, "Oh, Emma!" She smiled. "My, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you. How have you been doing?"

"Okay, I guess..."

"Well, you're going to love it here in Alfea. Come in."

Emily nodded as she went in. Griselda raised a brow. Emily was a new student here, and it wasn't like she interacted much with her girls' daughters beforehand, so she didn't know what to expect from the girl. Headmaster Helia from Red Fountain did mention tidbits about his daughter, like how she adored photography and can be a bit 'flighty', whatever that meant. She just hoped Emily won't get into trouble as much as her mother did several years back, even if Flora did just get dragged into trouble rather than causing it.

"Err, Princess Elizabeth of Eraklyon-"

The vice headmistress looked up at the name, "Oh, so you're Bloom's daughter?"

"Yes?" Liz squeaked. She wasn't even in the campus yet and she's already being recognized as the daughter of someone she has little to no memory of. She wondered if the other daughters like her had been recognized like this right off the bat.

"Welcome to Alfea, Liz. You'll have a great time here like your mother once had."

Liz gave a strained smile, "I hope there won't be fighting bad guys and all that."

Mirta gave a nervous smile, "Sure..." She said in an unsure tone, before shaking her head. "Anyways, come in."

Liz hesitantly went through the gates. Unlike Emily, Griselda actually knew a lot of things about Elizabeth, mostly due to sensationalized news and other kinds of media. She was the famed Bloom's daughter after all, who else's daughter could have as much publicity as Bloom? But she digressed. Liz hated public attention, as seen in paparazzi photos where it's mostly in bad quality as Liz would often cover her face or run off like some recluse troll. She was also a very creative and talented girl, often posting her paintings and poems and stories on her social media sites. Overall, Liz seemed to a nice enough girl, maybe a bit irresponsible, but a nice girl overall.

As more students came in, something had finally dawned upon the Headmistress as several memories flooded in her mind. _Malice. A mirror._ _The Winx disappearing. A prophecy emerging. Faragonda entrusting two things for her. Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa, Tecna, and Layla. Elizabeth, Brittany, Emily, Maxine, Celine, and Lana. Alfea. A mysterious and hooded woman threatening to destroy the world. Winx. Wrath. Daughters. Winx. Prophecy. Winx. Corruption. Winx. Win-_

"Are you quite alright, Miss Griselda?" The headmistress snapped out of it, and looked up to see a very concerned professor Palladium. "Orientation for the freshmen is very soon, you should pre-"

"It's time," Griselda suddenly said in an urgent manner to the elven professor. Palladium blinked, confused at what she was implying, but as he looked at the headmistress' eyes, he understood.

It really is time.

* * *

...

"Um," Liz looked up at the large and elaborate and...pink buildings of Alfea, feeling quite intimidated as she had not an idea of where to go or what to do. She looked around anxiously, why does every student seem to know where to go and what to do? Some of them aren't even looking to where they're going! She gripped her own fist as she looked around for any potential fairies to ask help for. That one looked too intimidating, the other one looked busy...

"Liz!" The redheaded girl looked back and saw a strange brunette. "Nice to see you again! Going to Alfea too?"

Liz raised a brow, she didn't know who this strange girl was. "Um, yes? And you are...?"

The girl's face dropped. "I'm Emma! We used to play together when we were four with other kids," She said. Liz raised a brow, everything before she was five years old was a blur to her, sure she could recall small snippets during that time with faceless children her age, but not solid memories. Though, Emma did sound rather familiar to her... "..It's okay if you don't," Emma said, "Many people say I have a very strong ability to remember things, and other people don't have that, and that's okay. Again, I'm Emily. Emma for short." She smiled at the redhead.

"My name is Elizabeth, but I'm sure you already know that," Liz said.

Emily smiled. "That's great! I heard from dad that we're roommates, and we're in the same dorm with two sophomores and two seniors. Isn't that cool?"

"I thought fairies of the same year only share dorms?" Liz asked, raising a brow.

She shrugged. "I don't know why, but you have to admit, it's really cool."

"I guess..." Liz said, pursing her lips. "Also really weird...what are they planning?"

* * *

...

"Why am I rooming with _her_ again? Out of all people, why her?" Celine asked in disgust, throwing her thumb over her shoulder to point at her roommate as she came out of her room and to the common room, where two senior fairies sat, lounging around. "I don't want to room with a freak. Does anyone want to switch roommates?"

"Well, if it isn't the pot calling the kettle black." Maxine rolled her eyes as she herself emerged from her room, sitting on one of the sofas in the common room. "Nerd," she sneered at the orange-haired fairy.

"Didn't I tell you before that roommates tend to stay roommates until they graduate?" Brittany asked, she was honestly tired of these two fighting all the time and act like the other is vile and disgusting even though everyone knows they're just best friends who treat one another badly for some reason. She just didn't understand their dynamic, one moment they're best friends who make fun of people together, and the next they're suddenly enemies and make fun of one another. She just didn't understand. "You should have filed a room change before the opening of classes."

"Hey, didn't Cel file one just after the school year ended last year?" Lana asked, turning to Cel. "What happened to that?"

Celine frowned. "It was rejected." She leaned in her seat. "They say it wasn't 'necessary' to change rooms just because I'm 'annoyed' at my roommate."

Brittany raised a brow. "Hanshole changed roommates last year after he found out that his roommate was a peasant on a scholarship." She said, referring to her rival and the douchebag prince of the century, Prince Hansel of Eraklyon. "And I can list other examples with other fairies here changing rooms just because they didn't like their roommate very much. Did you get Max's signature on your request?" Both Cel and Max nodded. "How strange."

"Maybe they wanted to enforce some 'Winx Next Generation' stuff on us. They wanted Max and Cel to be roommates, just like how Musa and Tecna used to be." Lana shrugged.

"That's ridiculous, Lana. Stop with your stupid theory about some Winx Next Gen bull crap." Max frowned. "It's never going to happen, just a coincidence, is all."

Before anyone could counter argue Max's argument, they heard a shuffling of feet behind a door and some whispers. Eventually, the door opened and it revealed two fairies, obviously naive freshmen, as they poked their heads in the door. "Hi?" One of them, the brunette, said with a sheepish smile.

Brittany was the first to react with a smile to the two newcomers. "Oh, are you two the new freshmen in this dorm?"

"I guess," the redhead shrugged as the two freshmen came in with their luggage. The other four had already unpacked so their luggage was nowhere to be found.

"Let's introduce us, shall we?" Brittany suggested as the others responded either positively or indifferently. "I'm Princess Brittany, heir to Solaria's throne, daughter of the late Queen Stella from the Winx Club and one of the best Specialists at his time, King Brandon, and proud sister to Specialist prodigy and naive Casanova, Prince Stiles. I'm also a full-time fashion guru and part time model...oh, and I love parties. Got any of that?" The two freshmen looked at one another in confusion before nodding. "Good, you should."

"Almost 80% of that was unnecessary, Brit." Lana rolled her eyes, before turning to the newbies. "I'm Lana, also a princess but I'd rather not be known by just that. Nice to meet you." Lana smiled.

"Celine, I go by Cel most of the time because my parents thought it'd be soo funny to name my brother and me by a calculator and a cellphone. Pathetic." Cel spat.

"I'm Maxine, mostly known as Max. Yeah, I know it sounds like a guy's name but that's the goal. I like music so if you need playlist recommendations then you can hit me up." Max waved.

Realizing everyone had already introduced themselves and it was now their turn, Emily stepped up. "Um, hi! I'm Emily but I mostly go by Emma, I really like photography and...not to sound braggy but my dad's the headmaster of Red Fountain."

"Headmaster Helia?" Celine raised a brow. "So that means Leon is your brother." Emma nodded. "Interesting..."

"Anyways, I'm Princess Elizabeth of Eraklyon," Liz said, "Um, I like to write and draw, I guess? I also like books."

"Oh," Brittany said lamely, but her eyes eventually widened at a sudden realization. "Oh no."

Emma and Liz were confused. Did their suite mates not want them already? "What?"

Lana was also confused at Brittany's apparent dismay, why would she react so negatively about the newcomers? Unless... "Yes!" She suddenly cheered, as she turned to Celine. "We won!"

"Hah?" was Cel's only response. She only joined the bet half-heartedly at the time so she obviously forgot about it by now.

"Who won what?" Emily asked, lost in the conversation. Max sighed in dismay.

"We had a bet last year about whether the Winx daughters, A.K.A us, will share the same dorm like our mothers did back in the day." Max rolled her eyes.

"And we did!" Lana smiled. "Well, despite our different year levels, of course. I thought it was strange that Princess Brittany of Solaria turned out to be my roommate out of all people, and I became more suspicious when Max and Cel were assigned in our dorm as roommates as well. So I thought, maybe Griselda and the other professors were onto something..."

"Isn't that a bit weird?" Liz asked.

"It's probably just the staff patting themselves on the back for rooming the daughters together to promote some sort of Winx next generation or crap like that." Cel piped up. "The idea of which I find extremely horrendous and stupid."

"I bet you if some Valtor Jr. decided to attack the Magic Dimension, everyone's eyes will be on us. I bet you that." Max said. Cel agreed as they high-fived one another.

Brittany and Lana looked at one another and frowned.

"Please don't jinx yourselves, guys..."

* * *

 **Author's notes: I'm really repetitive, am I? Haha, I introduced the girls at least three times now, but don't worry, the plot will probably start maybe next chapter.**

 **Note: the flashbacks (or the 'before' section at the start of the chapter), despite seeming like it now, is not chronological. It can also vary in length or content. It's sort of like a puzzle, the pieces might not make sense but once it's complete (the story I mean) it will come together quite nicely.**

 **Trivia (yes, I'll be doing trivia on the Winx next gen as maybe it would be more interesting): Did you know both Elizabeth and Hansel were named after literary characters? I always headcanoned Bloom as a bookworm. So Hansel was obviously named after the boy in the Grimm's fairytail, 'Hansel and Gretel' (if you ask Hansel where Gretel is, he'll choke you). While Elizabeth actually has two namesakes, Elizabeth Bennet from 'Pride and Prejudice', and Elizabeth "Liz" Emerson from a very recent book called 'Falling into Place' by Amy Zhang.**

 **I don't know how to conclude things. Um, till next time, I guess!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's notes: Hi! Here's the third chapter. I just want to thank you for those who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story, or even those who read this story and that's it. Thank you!**

 **Note: Some nasty languages ahead, only one or two but still. But then again this is rated T after all so why do I even bother.**

 **Without further ado, here's the third chapter!**

* * *

 _ **-Before-**_

 _Bloom frantically looked around her pitch black surroundings. Nothing. Every time she twisted and turned to every direction she could think of, she was only greeted with black nothingness. Tears welled up in her baggy eyes as she became more and more desperate as minutes went by. She gripped her head as she laid down in a fetal position, giving up for the first time in her life. Why did she agree to this mission in the first place? They were gone. The rest of the Winx, gone. One by one, off they went._ _ **She**_ _was more clever than everyone knew and knew exactly what she was doing and did it right. And so, she beat even the most powerful of fairies with ease._

 _More tears fell down the redhead's cheek, realizing it was now her turn to succumb to the darkness. She's never going to see everyone again. The Winx, her best friends, were gone and she will be too. Unfortunately, Oritel and Marion will lose one of their daughters yet again. She wouldn't even want to think about how Daphne will react at the news of her little sister's death. Mike and Vanessa will never truly understand what happened to their only, albeit adopted, daughter. She's never going to see her beloved Headmistress Faragonda and the other staff at Alfea ever again. The people of Eraklyon and Domino will be saddened to see such a well-intentioned queen and princess go. And Sky...her heart clenched. What about Sky? She didn't want to think how Sky will react to being widowed at such a young age._

 _Oh, and her children...oh, god, her children. Her heart clenched even more as she recalled her three-year-old son, Hans, having one of the worst tantrums upon being told that his mother would leave for a mission. The heartbroken face of her baby boy broke her heart, and she made a promise with him that when she came back, she said that they'll go out for some ice cream. A simple promise but it calmed the boy, and Bloom was so sure she'd return. But...not so much anymore. And Elizabeth...her daughter Elizabeth, whom she affectionately calls 'Lizzie'. The girl was barely a year old so Bloom thought that the princess would be the least affected to her mother being gone. But still...who will teach Lizzie how to read? How to awaken her power? Who will assure Lizzie whenever she's nervous? Who? Who?!_

 _She looked up as the scenery suddenly changed. No longer was she in some dark void of nothingness, instead, she was in a room full of mirrors. It's_ _ **her.**_ _Was what Bloom thought as she looked around the mirrored room, only to come face to face with a hooded figure. Judging by the stature, the figure seemed to be a woman. She wore a dark cloak that covered the majority of her body, a mask covered the upper half of her face while the lower half showed she had rather pale skin as dark green bangs framed her face. What was visible of her face showed a smirk as she looked down at the redhead. Bloom glared at the woman. "You," She growled. She knew she couldn't do anything, she was weak and tired. But she didn't want to give the vile woman the satisfaction._

 _Instead of being intimidated by the fairy of the dragon flame, the woman seemed to be amused. "That's all you're going to say? Pathetic." She sneered, before looking back to where her two loyal servants, a boy and a girl. Without saying a word, she made a gesture that the two understood immediately as one of the servants, the boy, suddenly ran past the woman and through the mirror, giving Bloom a hard kick to the stomach. "See! I told you to surrender and join me to make this easier for all of us, but did you all listen? No! You still had to preach about friendships and love and good and all that pathetic jargon. You're all so pathetically stubborn to the point where I had to do things the hard way," She muttered as Bloom coughed violently._

 _"I...I will never surrender!" Bloom said defiantly in between coughs._

 _The woman looked down at her, unconvinced. "Sure." She said dryly, before looking back to one of the servants left behind her, the girl, who looked quite restless as she wanted to join her brother. With another wordless gesture, a maniacal grin entered the young girl's expression as she ran past the woman, through the mirror, and right at Bloom with something in hand._

 _The last thing Bloom saw was a familiar blue orb coming at her._

* * *

 _ **-After-**_

The next morning, Liz woke up to a loud crash nearby. With half-lidded eyes and a bird's nest she called her hair, she suddenly sat up. She muttered incoherent jargon at first, something about maids leaving her alone and how there was this revolutionary invention called privacy before she realized she was not in the comfort of her queen-sized bed inside her luxurious room that she never asked for located in the grand palace of Eraklyon and was instead in the comfort of her comfy single bed in her room she shared with a roommate located in Alfea College for Fairies.

"I'm okay!" Someone suddenly called out, which she recognized as her roommate Emma. Liz looked around the room for her, well, roommate, but found no one. She pinched her nose, is this one of her weird hallucinations again? Ever since she was a child, she always experienced odd dreams and hallucinations, and no one knew why. She was brought to the doctor's several times just in case she had schizophrenia or any other mental illnesses but she was fortunately negative of those things, she was also checked for any magic-related ailments or disorders but overall she was a normal and healthy child. People just assumed she had a hyperactive imagination and let it slide. Though it waned a bit as she got older, she still experiences it from time to time, which can suck.

A thud was heard right next to Emma's nightstand, followed by a whine of pain from the aforementioned girl. Some more shuffling and thuds can be heard before Emma suddenly stood up, her hair a tangled mess and her face showed a panic expression as she attempted to pull her apparently knotted blanket from her neck to prevent herself being suffocated. The girl was dead unless she did something. "Emma, d-do you need any help-?"

Emma pulled her blanket from her neck with a triumphant grunt. She threw the piece of fabric onto her bed with a cheer and looked back at her roommate. "Oh, good morning, Liz!" She said, but upon noticing Liz's odd looking expression, her shoulders slumped. "Err, I'm sort of a really...messy sleeper and blankets get tangled on me a lot. I kind of forgot about it when I woke up so I tripped while getting out of bed." She explained sheepishly. "This happens a lot, just a warning." She smiled.

"Okay?" Liz got out of bed in a more graceful manner than her roommate, yawning. Yesterday was rather more...uneventful than she thought. She and the rest of her suite mates simply talked in the common room about random things that eventually escalated to a full blown debate about politics, and after that, she and Emma went to the orientation and nothing pretty much happened other than some fairies recognizing her as their idol's daughter. "What time is it?"

"It's breakfast time! I'm starving!" Emma answered cheerily. Liz looked at her with a frown at her not-so-helpful input. "Well, it's about seven in the morning, so we have to get ready to get to the cafeteria early before we run out of seats. I can't function well without anything in my stomach, so..." Emma rubbed her head.

Liz hesitantly looked at her, then back at the bed, then back to her, as if she was hesitating whether to get ready already like Emma said or just sleep for a few more moments and just go to classes without breakfast. She pursed her lips, it was the first day, after all. It wouldn't really hurt to just skip the few more minutes of sleep she can have in exchange for possible delicious eggs and bacon. She sighed as she looked back at her rooommate, who was now seated in front of her dresser's mirror to fix her hair.

"Sure." Liz eventually said. Emma looked away from the mirror and smiled.

* * *

...

"I wonder what it is..."

Celine looked down at a small ball-like object. It was barely the size of her palm and it seemed to be made out of metal by the way it shined, it was also unusually heavy and something rattled whenever she shook it. She furrowed her brows, this was apparently her father's 'welcome back to school' gift for her, and the man didn't even bother with something like a letter to explain what the strange object does. What a useless object from a useless father, she thought.

"Hey, y'know, if you don't have any use for it, then you know who to give it to," Max said as she came out of the bathroom, drying her hair as she pointed to herself with a grin. She was aware of Timmy's useless presents to his children as if he didn't know a thing about them at all, so when Cel's father gave her a limited edition portable stereo that wasn't out yet at the time, Cel, not exactly interested in music, instead gave, or rather, tossed it to Max, who in turn squealed like a little kid during Christmas. "I can use it to chuck at annoying people."

"How about I chuck you out the window first, Max," Cel snapped, barely glancing at her roommate. Usually, she would just throw something away she deemed useless or give it to someone else as she didn't care for sentimental value, but why did she feel like this...thing would be important one day? "I'm going to keep it. It's weird and I can chuck it at you whenever you're annoying." She decided.

Max frowned at her roommate but instead of retorting something mean, she instead sat down on her bed and checked her phone. Lots of messages flooded her notifications as always, many were her friends messaging her about some juicy story or just some memes, others were her older friends back at Melody was messaging how they missed her already, and the rest were some boys flirting with her. She ignored all of these messages and chose to look for one message from her father. She had messaged him in hopes of talking to him again, as it's been nearly two years since Riven had left his own two children and went into one of his many adventures without looking back, sure he had been absent for longer than that but still.

Nothing. She sighed, as always. Why was she still surprised? Riven was Riven, after all. Even in his youth, he was still a jackass to their mother and everyone around him, or so Hoboe told his two grandkids. Of course, it wouldn't be as different as when he would have been a father. But still...the guy was barely in her and Rhys' life, the least he could do was give them a message every now and again. She glanced at the nearby mirror, was the reason why Riven left them was because they reminded him too much of their mother? She looked a lot like her mother, after all, with the exception of her eyes and other minor, unnoticable features. Though Rhys looked like a carbon copy of his father, his skin was lighter and he had his mother's eyes, sharing her love with music as well, both of them did. She frowned at the mirror, before turning away.

"Wanna get breakfast? I heard they're serving waffles." Max suddenly asked as she stood up. Cel hesitantly placed down her...thing in the drawer of her nightstand before nodding.

* * *

...

"Lans, what did I tell you about consuming caffeine?" Brittany asked cautiously at her roommate, who held a cup o' joe as she organized the things she needed for the school year. The princess sat in front of her dresser, brushing her luscious hair and applying some makeup to make her look presentable for the first day of senior year. Despite looking like quite a normal and...stable girl, Lana actually had a caffeine problem that started last year. It was understandable at first to see Lana holding a cup of coffee every once in a while as classes were stressing, but it got so bad to the point where Lana's fingers were visibly shaking and on her trashcan were nothing but empty coffee cups.

Lana, barely looking at her roommate, rolled her eyes. "it's fine, Brit. Coffee wouldn't hurt every once in a while if you're stressed."

"During midterms, I can understand, but this is the first day of school, what can you possibly be stressed about in classes that consist of nothing but introductions to the subjects we're going to learn?" Brittany asked. She really was concerned for her roommate's wellbeing. For someone who was so concerned about how her friends are doing and preach about taking care of oneself, Lana doesn't seem to take care a bit about what she's putting in her body in an attempt to stay awake.

She didn't know what to say, "Err...I'm preparing for what will stress me out in the future?"

"That's ridiculous!" Brittany argued. "Seriously, if I find you with another cup later this day, I won't hesitate to tell Nurse Ophelia about it."

Lana merely shrugged as she glanced at her roommate. "What are you applying makeup for, anyway?" She asked with a raised brow. "It's not like we're still freshmen where we have to leave good first impressions, you know. Everyone pretty much knows the great and majestic Princess Brittany of Solaria."

Brittany rolled her eyes as she looked into the mirror. "I don't know; it's just a habit. Makeup makes me feel better about myself, I guess."

"But you are already pretty, Brit." Lana shrugged as she carried her textbooks. "I don't think you need that much makeup."

"Aww, thank you," Brittany gushed at her roommate, before turning back to the mirror as she applied lipstick. "I guess I'll just do the necessities then."

Lana smiled at her, "Hurry up though before our seats get taken and we run out of breakfast."

"'Kay!"

* * *

...

"So, what's your first class?" Emma drank the remaining of her orange juice as she looked at Liz, who sat across from her in the dining hall during breakfast. Many students chattered with one another, keeping up with what their friends did during the summer, while others stuffed food inside their mouths in a hurry as they arrived quite late. Their other four suitemates were nowhere near them as they already split ways by the time they reached the door. They already had their group of friends apparently.

The ones nearest to them so far, Max and Cel, were with quite a rowdy bunch as they sang some current pop song so haphazardly it was as if they were tone deaf, many freshmen were bothered by this but what can they do, while other sophomores and seniors just ignored the loud group as they were pretty much used to it. Brittany was with a bunch of fellow princesses and other reputable fairies, giggling amongst themselves as they drank tea, Lana sat with them as well but only conversed with very few of them. So, realizing that neither of them fit in one clique or another, just sat on the edge of one of the tables with other timid freshmen. They seem nice.

Liz put down her fork and looked at a piece of paper, squinting her eyes as she did so. "Met...metam..err, Professor Wizgiz's class." She replied, giving up with the pronunciation. "What about you?"

"Ooh, I heard he's a very fun professor," Emma said. "Anyways, I'm having Potionology, which I really love. A really good start for the school year, if you ask me!"

"I guess," Liz shrugged.

Emma's smiled dropped at Liz's lack of enthusiasm, but it soon came back. "Here's to a good school year!" She cheered, raising her cup up. Liz and some other freshmen looked up at her with surprise.

Eventually, Liz smiled as well, toasting her cup with Emma's. "A good school year."

* * *

...

Maybe it was not going to be a very good school year after all.

Liz looked around anxiously, everyone seemed to have a very good idea to where they're going. Sure, she had a vague idea to where to go but she sort of forgot. She sighed, she and Emma had already split ways by the time she already found her classroom, so she was on her own. Thankfully, she eventually did find it. Eventually, right at the moment classes were about to start. The moment she opened the door to her class, all eyes were on her, even the professor, currently in the form of an elephant, stopped his introducion and looked to where Liz stood.

"Um, hi?" Liz squeaked with a bashful smile. The class continued to be silent until the room exploded into whispers.

"Is that her?" One student whispered to another.

"Probably. Look at her hair, does that not scream 'Queen Bloom' to you?" Another replied.

"For Bloom's daughter, she doesn't seem to look much."

"Heh. I bet she's snobbish and arrogant, being the daughter of such a legend and all."

"I know right? Just look at the other daughters of the Winx! If the real Winx were here, I bet they'd be real disappointed."

Liz frowned and blushed at the words being spoken about her, she looked down and quickly tried to find a vacant seat, to which she did as she sat on a seat on the front row. More people whispered about her as she tried blocking it out, instead whipping out a notebook and a pen that she doodled whenever she was distressed. Professor Wizgiz frowned at the whisperings and clapped his hands, silencing the class. "Alright now, stop yer chit-chattering." He said, glancing at the redheaded girl sympathetically, before turning back to the rest of the class. "For the late Lucy's out there, again, I'm-"

She barely listened to the professor's introductions about him and the subject he was going to teach as she was too busy doodling...something. What was she doodling? She didn't know. She felt she wasn't in control of herself as she drew...her eyes squinted...a mirror? She was confused, usually she would doodle fire or hearts or something, but not a mirror. Wait...she was doodling something in the mirror...a woman, perhaps? A woman she had never seen before, in fact. But why? She blinked as she looked down at her piece, utterly confused.

She heard the professor call her name and she looked up, finding a floating mirror in front of her. Seeing that the students are now paying attention, Wizgiz elaborated more on their very first activity: changing one's hair color.

Liz grabbed on to the small hand mirror hesitantly, still bothered by her odd looking doodle. She had never doodled anything similar to that before. Why a mirror? Who was that woman? Why? She shook her head.

Probably just a coincidence.

* * *

...

Meanwhile, somewhere very far away, sat a certain woman in her Game of Thrones-esque, well, throne as she watched some events unfold in the form of a magical mirror. The upper part of her face was covered by her cloak and a mask as she rubbed her chin in interest. "Hoo..." She said in interest, watching a certain redhead try to change her hair color, with little success. She reclined back on her seat, "Don't tell me that that pathetic girl and her friends are gonna stop me. She can't even perform a simple spell!" She said amusingly. "This is why prophecies are a load of complete, utter _horse shit_. A shame that everyone still believes in that bull crap, maybe then I wouldn't be convinced that the world isn't worth crap and need to be destroyed." Her eyes darkened when she said that.

"Oh well, it's their fault for fighting for a lost cause, master." One of the servants that each stood beside her, the girl, piped up.

"Right!" The other one, the boy, nodded.

"I suppose," Their Master shrugged. She glanced at the mirror one more time, pursing her lips. "Though as much as I'm convinced I'll easily eliminate them, there's still a small chance they'll be victorious in the end." She said, rubbing her chin.

The two loyal servants looked at one another. "What do we do then, master?" The girl asked.

Their master tried thinking of something, and eventually, she did as her face suddenly lit up. "Arte, Pollo," She called out, and as if on cue, the twin servants ran in front of their master, ready to serve her every command.

"Yes, master?" They both chorused with grins, their every move synchronized with one another. Despite fifteen years had already passed, the young twins looked like they haven't aged a day, whether it'd be physically or mentally. The wicked sister still had her chubby cheeks and the stupid brother was still as stupid as ever.

The woman looked at her servants, her usual tired looking eyes that contained all the hardships and overwhelming hate inside of her suddenly softened as she smiled at the two children.

"Wanna play a game?"

* * *

 **Author's notes: LOL what even is pacing? But seriously, is it too early to *somewhat* introduce the villain or? Pacing isn't exactly my forte so feel free to tell me if the pacing is too fast or too slow. I just want to introduce the villain already as the 'Back to School' dance is where the plot *really* starts, also it's where the boys will show up (I'm so sorry for not including them so far). Also by the way, for those who read FFY, it's going to be updated soon as well :)**

 **Also about the villain: No she's not Tinkerbell from WoW. Just because she has green hair doesn't mean she's Selina either. She's not related to any of the canon characters.**

 **Trivia for the chapter: Dad!Riven is sort of based off of Papa!Sasuke from Naruto. Except Sasuke didn't leave his family out of despair, but for a mission, I think? Or was it redemption, I don't remember, it's been a while since I've read Gaiden. And I guess you could say that Sky (and Timmy too I guess) is sort of like Naruto as a dad, barely has time for his kids which caused one of them to act up.**

 **So, questions. What happened to the Winx? Who is the villainous woman and what are her motives? Can you guess any plot devices in this chapter that will obviously be important to the plot later on? I sure hope not *nervous laughter*. Why are most of the Specialists such terrible fathers? Two of those four questions will be answered soon! I guess.**

 **'Till next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's notes: Ehhh...probably my least favorite chapter so far. It's not that descriptive and I feel like I could've added more but...eh. So, sorry if it's lacking.**

 **Not much to say; enjoy the chapter (or don't)!**

* * *

 _Faragonda pursed her lips as she looked at the latest report, intimidated at the lack of positive results. The search party had found nothing, other than mere sightings by witnesses long before, or things that may or may not have belonged to the girls, but it was worthless find as it did nothing to help find the girls' whereabouts. It had been about three years since the Winx Club started their journey to find the seven orbs and who was behind it, and they have not been seen or heard since. The search for the missing heroes have been quite huge throughout the Magical Dimension for an amount of time, yet it started to dwindle recently as more people start to believe that they are either dead, or went under the radar for an unknown reason. Either of the possibilities, she didn't want to even think about it._

 _"Many people are pulling out of the search. Even King Sky was forced to pull out due to a potential bankruptcy in Eraklyon." Griselda informed, looking quite grim. People are really losing hope._

 _"I...see," The headmistress leaned back on her seat. She was going to retire very soon as she was not getting younger, and so she didn't want to spend her last years as headmistress with the burden of losing her best students. That'd just be straight up tragic._

 _"I wonder if the person behind the seven orbs had something to do with it..." Griselda wondered out loud. And alas! Her question has been answered as a mirror nearby glowed a hue of green, before it showed a distorted shape of a woman, her face obscured by a cloak and a mask._

 _"Perhaps," The woman in the mirror shrugged so nonchalantly. Faragonda and Griselda gasped and turned to the mirror, only to see someone they hoped to never see again. "Maybe you shouldn't have done what you did, maybe then you'd have a fighting chance. Your best fairies are gone, you're too old to even transform, and your students are they weakest they've ever been! Boy, aren't you on a roll recently, Miss Faragonda?" She asked in a condescending manner._

 _The headmistress and her assistant looked at one another in horror, before turning back to the woman with equal rage. "You!" Faragonda yelled._

 _The woman didn't look intimidated. "Now, where have I heard that before?" She wondered sarcastically, before turning back to the older woman. "You know the drill. You may ask three questions and I shall answer them as truthfully as I can." She said in a monotone manner, as if she recited the same sentence time and time again._

 _Faragonda pursed her lips, not pleased but what can she do. "Where are the Winx? What happened to them?"_

 _The woman smiled. "You'll find out soon." Her tone held something...malicious in it, she wondered why?_

 _Griselda asked the second question. "Who released you?"_

 _"Fate," Was the woman's answer, and she didn't try to elaborate on that. Faragonda frowned, not content with the answer, so she asked another question._

 _"Why are you doing this?" She asked._

 _"Because fate told so, did it not?" She told them. "Fate said that I'm going to destroy the world someday, and because of that my life was a living hell. If Fate insists that I am who I am, then let me take it upon myself to_ _ **prove**_ _that."_

 _Before they could react, the mirror omitted its glow as the woman disappeared, leaving an empty mirror and more questions._

* * *

 _..._

"What's your first class?" Max asked as she walked with her roommate in the halls. Many students hustled and bustled as they walked to their classes, some ran with toast in their mouths after waking up quite late, while others were probably still in bed sleeping, used to their summer schedule, rest in peace to them. "I think I have History."

Cel glanced at her own schedule, "That makes it the both of us," She sighed. Max slightly frowned at the girl's slight downer attitude, but said nothing. "I really hate History."

"Uh, why?" Max asked, somewhat curious. She never really had any problems with History, professor Daphne was an okay professor and she didn't mind learning about significant events from the past. Sure, Cel was more of a 'math' genius but Max didn't recall her failing anything in History. Maybe it's because she deemed it useless information? Maybe she didn't care about learning what dead people did? She thought those too but what can she do.

She frowned. "Whenever my mom or dad gets mentioned, I always get compared to them. 'Hah! I bet Tecna didn't fail any of her classes!', 'Are we really sure that she's their daughter?'." She rolled her eyes. "Pfft. Losers."

Max looked at her roommate in surprise, before thinking about it and finding that she can also relate to that. Their lessons last year mostly consisted of well known historical figures and heroes, so of course their mothers and fathers would get mentioned a lot. Though she, too, found it annoying that every time the great musical fairy Musa, or the brave Specialist Riven, were mentioned, all eyes would be on her. Sure, they were her parents, but were they really? Musa died when she was barely two, and Riven couldn't be bothered raise his own damn children. So fuck them. Max sighed.

"That makes it the both of us."

* * *

...

Emma looked around the hall with several classrooms, carefully navigating her way to her current class as she dodged several students with slight difficulty. She made a promise to herself earlier this morning that she'd stop, or at least, tried to stop her clumsy ways as it would be dangerous and embarrassing for a fairy-in-training. Mostly embarrassing but don't tell anyone that.

"Potionology...Potionology...Potionology..." She murmured as her eyes scanned the room numbers. She forgot her promise to herself as she got a bit distracted, and being distracted meant having the potential to bump into something or someone, which she did. "Oof!"

She bumped into something. It was the first day, on the way to her first class, and she already had her clumsy stunt. How wonderful. "I'm so, so, so, so, sorry!" An apologetic, yet timid, voice squeaked. Emma looked at the figure she bumped on to and saw another girl, probably a freshman like she was. She was a timid looking girl, a bit shorter than Emma, with pale skin, light green hair tired into a ponytail, and matching eyes. The girl also wore a hoodie, just something Emma noticed.

Emma raised a brow. "It's okay...? It's my fault for not paying attention anyways-"

"No, no, no, no- I-it's my fault, I'm such a klutz, I-" The girl insisted.

She had never met someone so apologetic before, and instantly felt bad for the girl for whatever she experienced that made her eyes. "No, really, it's okay, really!" Emma said, silencing the girl. "Um, oh and by the way, I'm Emily, but I mostly go by Emma!"

The girl stared up at Emma with a hesitant look, before smiling. "Err, hi, I guess." She said, looking down, "My name's...um, Nemesis." Seeing Emma's raised brow, she squeaked, "I know, I know! It's a really weird name..."

"What? No! Of course not!" Emma laughed nervously as she waved her arms around, shaking her head. Not only did her clumsiness show in the first day, but she offended someone as well. Boy isn't she on a roll today. "Nemesis is a really pretty name." Nemesis gave a look that said, 'Okay...I don't believe that...but, sure'. Emma laughed some more, "So, Nemesis, are you a freshman too?"

Nemesis shrugged. "I guess."

"What's your first class?"

"Potionology." Nemesis seemed to have a thing for one word answers.

Emma's face lit up. Is this her potential first friend outside her suite mates? "Mine too!" She said, "Though, I don't know where it is..."

"Oh, well, it's the fifth room to the left." Nemesis told her, recalling the map she read.

"Thanks!" Emma smiled as she walked past the girl, turning away from her for just a second, "Why don't we go in the class together-?" She was about to ask as she turned back to the green haired girl, but-

She was gone.

It was as if she were never there in the first place as students walked past where she once stood, not batting an eye, their faces blank.

Emma blinked as she stared to where her new friend once stood, her mouth agape as she stared widely. She could've sworn she looked away for just a second, no one could've run off that quickly, and it couldn't be a spell either, Nemesis was still a freshman.

"Emily?" Emma gasped and looked up, only to see their vice-headmistress, Mirta. "Classes has already started. Are you alright?" Emma looked around, the halls were empty, the voices of several professors saying their introductions in their classrooms can be heard.

"Err, yes!" Emma gave a nervous smile. "I just met someone new and they must have been really quick because they left to class without me."

"Is that so?" Miss Mirta raised a brow, "It must have been one of those speed fairies, there are quite a handful of them this year. Can you perhaps tell me her name?"

"Her name is Nemesis," She smiled, "Err, Miss Mirta?" She asked in concern after Mirta's smile dropped to a worrisome frown.

Mirta looked like she had somewhere to be. "You should get to class, Emma," She quickly said, before walking away.

Emma was confused, but shook her head as she quickly ran to her class, questions suddenly springing on her mind.

* * *

...

"So, which do you pick first, my little darlings?"

Six colorful orbs were lined up in front of them in a specific order: blue, yellow, pink, red, purple, and green. Each representing different aspects of negative traits. The two child servants cooed at the pretty looking orbs and squealed excitedly as if they were choosing a toy at a toy story as they each examined the orbs, looking at each other as if they were debating. The woman fondly looked at the children as she sipped her tea, one of the only pleasures she indulges in this vile world.

"The blue one!" Pollo decided as he excitedly ran towards his master, awaiting her approval.

"Ah, the orb of envy," She nodded, "The desire to have a quality, possession, or other desirable attribute belonging to someone else. Very nice, Pollo-"

"No!" Arte frowned as she ran towards her master as well, with a frown. "I want the pink one!"

Their master raised a brow, "The orb of sloth? That's also very nice." She said, "The reluctance to work or make an effort; laziness."

"I want the blue one!" Pollo whined.

"No! The pink one!" Arte whined as well.

"Now, that's enough," Their master scolded with a frown, the two servants were silenced yet they still gave one another childish gestures. "We can't have two orbs frolicking around the place at the same time. You two need to compromise or else there'll be no game."

"Aww," The two whined, before frowning at one another. They shared looks, as if debating again as they both smiled and finally pointed to another orb; the yellow orb.

Their master smiled, pleased with their choice. "A simple thing to start off. The orb of pride, a foolishly and irrationally corrupt sense of one's personal value, status or accomplishments. Perfect,"

The two servants smiled as the yellow orb floated away to the sky, signalling something.

"Now, let the game begin!"

* * *

...

"So, how were you guys' first days?" Lana asked her suite mates as they all sat in the common room of their dorm. It was now afternoon and most students had already finished their classes. It was only the first day so there was homework or anything of the sorts, and the girls didn't have anything much to do.

"Painfully mediocre," Cel answered, slouching on one of the couch's arms. Max nodded, agreeing with her roommate.

"Yeah, it was kind of...uneventful," Brittany agreed surprisingly. "I know this happens every year but for some reason I feel like this year is different."

Max nodded again, "Something's definitely going to happen. I just wonder what."

Emma and Liz looked at one another. "Do you mean the back to school dance in a few days?" Emma asked, aware of several of Alfea's activities, especially if it has something to do with Red Fountain. She was honestly excited, meeting and getting acquainted with new people and possibly meeting the love of your life.

"Ooh, I almost forgot about that!" Brittany piped up, being the socialite she is, she tends to be overly excited with social gatherings, even if it's just simple group meetups for projects and the like. So saying she was excited for the party is an understatement. "So, what are you guys going to wear?" Many of them shrugged. She turned to Liz, "Liz, what are you going to wear?" She repeated the question.

Liz, surprised at the sudden question, replied with the most blunt answer ever. "Err, clothes?"

Brittany's face dropped while Max snorted. "Was that a joke? Please don't tell me we have a lame joker here," Max laughed, before stopping abruptly. "Seriously, don't do that again." Almost everyone agreed.

"Okay?" Liz raised a brow, she didn't know there was an intolerance for bad jokes amongst them, the thing she said wasn't even an intentional joke! Suddenly, she became curious. "What do you call someone who's your sister but your enemy at the same time-?"

"No!"

* * *

 **Author notes: It could've been better but honestly I feel tired and I have to update fast since exams are approaching. Also I feel like too much stuff is happening all in a span of one chapter, is there too much happening or?**

 **Oh and note: Nemesis does not have anything to do with the Winx's nemesis counterparts in WoW. It's a coincidence, I named her Nemesis before season 2 even came out. Also, yes! Nemesis is a name, it's the name of a Greek Goddess. Her namesake actually says a lot about who she is as a character...mostly.**

 **Trivia: Several characters are mostly based off of other favorite characters of mine from different media. Like Emma and Callum, for example! Emma is based off of Bianca from Pokemon BW/B2W2 while Callum is based off of Cheren from the same games. If that doesn't say a lot about their potential connection then I don't know what will. Also, speaking of Pokemon games, did you know that the story's plot is based off of Pokemon-*spoiler beep*.**

 **Till next time!**


	5. 4 - remémorer

**Author's notes: Hi! Here's an earlier update because I have tons of stuff to do next week and I have to attend a school party tomorrow. I actually really like how this turned out, may not be the best, but I like it. I hope you do too.**

 **Warning: some nasty languages ahead, although it's very basic. That's because a certain someone is in this chapter and I can't help making them swear because I think it suits their character.**

* * *

 **-** ** _Before-_**

 _The first time they heard the news, everything was a blur that they needed clarification._

 _The second time, they were in denial._

 _The third time...they were enraged._

 _"They're still out there! How can you give up so soon?!" Timmy demanded, his voice cracking near the end. He felt a sick sense of deja vu from the situation, recalling something he would have rather forgotten. Though like before, he was adamant about it, that Tecna and the other Winx were out there, seeking rescue._

 _He was not alone. "Why would you give up on the girls that saved the world several times over?" Sky nearly yelled at them, his fists clenching. Everyone had given up. If the whole world would have been in danger, the Winx would have stopped at nothing to save the world, that's how righteous and good they were. And now, they were missing, and everyone had given up on them. Damned hypocrites they were._

 _The two leads of the search, two of the 'best' (pfft. yeah right) officers in the realm, cleared their throats, trying to calm the storm. "Sirs-"_

 _"We don't need your bullshit," Riven hissed as the guys looked at one another and walked off, determination in their eyes as they made plans, making a promise to their beloved._

 _"We'll find you."_

* * *

...

Day four in the school, Liz and her suite mates walked to the dining hall for breakfast as several other students walked with them, though the six dorm mates would usually walk together in the mornings like they were friends, they would eventually split up usually without a word as if they never knew one another, and hung out with their own cliques. Not one of them ever complained or even acknowledged it, and Liz and Emma eventually got used to it, sitting with a group of freshmen they befriended sometime during the first four days. Things were...great so far for Liz and the girls. At first, Liz thought the school was gonna force the six of them to be the next generation of their mothers, fighting villains and the like, but other than high expectations and some comparing here and there, it seemed that the school didn't really care, which was nice. Though she's afraid she may have thought too soon.

"What's the square root of one?" Max asked out of the blue as they walked through the halls. She was holding a notebook and a textbook as she tried finishing her homework...while walking. Lana had warned her about it several times but she just couldn't be bothered doing her homework the night before.

"Isn't it one?" Brittany raised a brow.

"This is basic math, how can you not know the square root of one? Or any square root of any number?" Cel snorted. "We learned that in second grade."

"Well, I'm sorry that Melody's curriculum's focus isn't math like Zenith does." Max rolled her eyes, "I bet you can't even play an instrument to save your life."

Cel shrugged, not in the mood for a rebuttal after her brother ranted angrily to her all night that she barely paid attention to, something about an annoying freshman, not that she cared. "Fair point."

"Why does Alfea have mathematics as a subject all of a sudden, anyway? Isn't this a fairy school that teaches us how to be fairies? Not to solve equations?" Emma wondered out loud, everyone shrugged. Legends, or rather, rumours say that Griselda implemented mathematics and other subjects in the curriculum as soon as Faragonda retired. She never offered an explanation.

"Oh! That reminds me," Lana said, turning to Brittany, "What happened yesterday in History Class? I got called into Red Fountain after Kai did some stupid thing and dad refused to go." She rolled her eyes. Apparently, Kai had blackmailed a sophomore into upgrading his gaming system but the guy wasn't very familiar with the device so the doohickey exploded, damaging at least five dorms and injuring several students. 'But at least no one died' was Kai's reasoning as to why he was so nonchalant throughout Headmaster Helia's ranting, much to the headmaster and his sister's frustration.

Brittany tapped her chin, "Nothing much. We're currently analyzing a legend about two kids releasing evil into the world, at least, that's what I think. It's just so cryptic that I can't even understand the second part, something about descendants saving something, and some terms I don't even get, like malum and mem aleph, whatever that meant. I don't know." Though Brittany was an honor student, she's not naturally smart, so there's bound to be some bumps in the road in her academic journey.

"Sounds exciting," Lana drawled as they finally arrived in front of the door to the dining hall. Emma pushed the doors open and the girls were greeted with a surprising sight.

"What the hell?" Max asked, dropping her textbook as she furrowed her brows at the sight. The three tables that were once long that held a third of the students in each table, were now cut into smaller tables that can hold at least six students, sort of like the cafeteria tables at almost every high school in movies. And all the fairies were standing in front of the headmistress and the rest of the staff that stood atop an indoor balcony of some sort, like they were having an orientation. "What's going on?" Max asked one of her friends, Mel, who just so happened to stand at the back.

"I have no idea," Mel shrugged. "When the girls and I got here, the tables changed and the headmistress is going to make an announcement, something about the tables, I'm going to assume."

Max pursed her lips as she and her suite mates shared looks. A few more students came in, also confused with the situation. Headmistress Griselda, upon realizing all the students had arrived, cleared her throat and clapped her hands to silence the students' confused chattering. Once she deemed the students silent enough, she started to speak. "I know the sudden change of tables had confused most of you, but we deemed the change as necessary after some observations concerning some students who fail to find a seat during meals, mostly those who are friendless. So, there will be more tables and chairs for all students and we have collectively agreed that there will be seating arrangements-" At this point, most of the students are reacting negatively to this.

"Why seating arrangements?! Are dorms and classes not enough?!" A student screeched as she hugged her best friend, who was now neither her dorm mate nor was she in any of her classes. Star-crossed friends, basically.

"I'll be screwed if there aren't any nerds seated near me..." Another student muttered, looking at her textbook with her blank homework.

"This is just absurd!" Another yelled.

Griselda pursed her lips as she clapped louder, silencing the students once more. "As I was saying, there will be seating arrangements. To make this easier for all of us, the arrangements will be based on dorms, so that you'll be at least familiar with the people sitting with you." Many students whined while others didn't react much since they sat with their dorm mates anyway, and somewhere in the crowd, a redhead's jaw suddenly dropped. "Now, that is enough whining. This seating arrangement is final. Now, go to your tables." Griselda ended her announcement with a stern glare to her whining students.

"This sucks," Max muttered as she and her suitemates walked to their assigned table. Many students were still whining and others clung to one another as if they were getting separated forever, it would have been a funny sight for Max but she wasn't very pleased with the new arrangement either.

"I know," Brittany said, shaking her head. "And just when Princess Veronica wanted some fashion advice on the dance..." She said as she sat down with the rest of them. She looked at a certain redhead. "Liz, are you okay?"

On the outside, Liz tried to act calm and fine. In the inside, however, one thing ran through her mind.

 _"I spoke too soon."_

"What do you mean you spoke too soon?" Cel suddenly questioned the redhead, adjusting her spectacles as breakfast suddenly appeared in front of the girls, some bagels with eggs and orange juice.

"What?" Liz asked, blinking. She was pretty sure she didn't say it out loud. "You can read minds?"

Cel shook her head. "Not really. I ate too many sight-enhancing carrots when I was younger and now I can read the wri- never mind." Then she turned away as if she never spoke to Liz in the first place. Liz blinked at the pinkette, but she eventually turned away as Emma tapped on her shoulder.

"The Back to School dance is in two days! Aren't you excited?" Emma asked, hoping this subject will help her obviously upset suite mates. She had learned the past few days that they are quite easily distracted, Brittany and Max especially.

"I guess?" Liz shrugged being the introverted fairy she is. "Is this party compulsory by any chance?"

"If you don't want a nose-diving social status and reputation then, yes!" Brittany said a bit too cheerfully. "You're a princess of one of the most successful kingdoms and the daughter of who can be considered a legend, so for someone like you, it's a necessity to join." She added in a more serious tone, she turned to Emma, "Same goes for you, but you wanted to attend anyway so what the hell."

"She's overreacting," Max rolled her eyes, "If you don't attend the dance, then the worst thing everyone will do is treat you like an outcast."

"That doesn't make Brittany's statement any better..."

* * *

...

"Fath- Sir?"

He was scanning through student reports in his office when the overwhelming silence he had gotten used to over the years was broken by a familiar knock on the door and his son's voice. He looked up, adjusting his spectacles as he looked back down and clicked his tongue. "Come in," he said. His voice was unusually brief and cold for someone who used to be so gentle and poetic, but things do change, and all the things Headmaster Helia of Red Fountain had been through didn't necessarily change him in a good way. Leon peeked his head through the door, the usually calm and gentle boy was timid with his shoulders tensed. "What is it, Leon-ard?" He asked, forgetting to call the boy by his first name instead of his nickname as they were on school premises.

"A man wants to see you," Leon informed, scratching his head. "Something about recent reports..."

Helia pursed his lips, out of all the people he could have asked, it had to be his son. He sighed, rubbing his forehead as he waved. "Let him in." Leon stepped aside and through the door came another man, his hair spiked as always and his lips forming a sneer. Helia made a gesture for the boy to leave, to which Leon obliged, shutting the door.

The man sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk rather carelessly, sighing as if he had been through a lot. "That was your kid, right? The boy, what was his name? Lemy? Leo?"

The headmaster sighed. "Leonard, but he now often goes by Leon." He furrowed his brows at the man, "Riv-"

"Man, the kid's such a carbon copy of you. Are you sure that's Flora's son-?"

"Rive-"

"I saw the other guys' kids too. Never knew Sky's brat would be such an asshole-"

"Riven-"

"Timmy's kid was surprisingly cool, maybe a bit nerdy-"

"Riven,"

"And don't even get me started on Brandon's kid-"

"Riven." Helia interrupted with a warning tone, not in the mood for small talk, especially about their friends' children. Unlike back at Alfea, Helia didn't believe in the 'next gen' crap and treated his friends' sons like everyone else, sure he roomed his son with his best friend's son but Prince Hansel chose Prince Stiles as his roommate, and he wasn't even responsible for Rhys and Kai's room arrangements, it was pure coincidence. "I'd like to hear about your reports, not what you think about my students."

Riven frowned as he reclined back to his seat, sighing. "Nothing, Helia. There are still no traces of them, I've traveled around the realms for ten years, asked around, went to deserted places, still nothing. I even asked Sky and the others, they found nothing too. Surprise fuckin' surprise." He rolled his eyes. Five years after the Magic Dimension had given up searching for their beloved famed fairies, devastating their loved ones who were convinced that the Winx were still out there. So the Specialists took it upon themselves to look for their wives, in their own ways of course. But a decade had already passed and they found nothing, no clues, no witnesses, not even dead bodies if they were that negative, and not only that but most of their relationships with their children were strained severely.

Helia pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is a futile search."

"You only realized that now?" Riven asked sarcastically, "I've been absent in my kids' lives for ten fucking years, Helia. I realized that the moment my own daughter had to be pried off of me when she was seven years old."

"I...know what you feel," Helia surprisingly said, glancing at a small portrait of a family. A happy family, full of smiles and laughter and love. Helia hasn't seen himself smiling that genuinely since he watched his daughter walk, or rather, wobble towards him for the first time, or the moment his son showed him a cute drawing of a father and son. It was a time of...bliss and happiness.

It was a time before everything went wrong.

Oh, how he'd wish to live in that time again.

Without being widowed, without prophecies about your children, without the whole school of Red Fountain resting on your hands, without having to look behind your shoulder every now and then in fear that the prophecy might just come true and destroy everything. The time where all his worries only concerned changing his daughter's diapers, teaching his son to not draw on the walls, and the time where she was by his side, living, breathing, with her gentle smile and cute laugh. The time where she was actually _here_.

Riven rubbed his eyes, tired. "I...I'm tired. I really am. If someone told me that my fate would be a bitter widow in denial with children who are in a dangerous prophecy and definitely hates his guts then I would have avoided these shenanigans in the first place."

Helia's eyes trailed over to the portrait again. "Fate...it's unnecessarily cruel towards us, isn't it?" He muttered, "Our wives who did so many good things suffered a tragic fate, we are fated to be widows and our children...I don't even want to mention it."

"I don't want Max and Rhys to go through what Musa went through." Riven stated unusually in a quiet tone, his eyes cast downwards. "Surely, even something like fate can be changed, right?" He asked. Helia looked down as well.

"Probably."

* * *

 **Author's notes: Hints! So many hints! Maybe not that many but I do hope some of you catch something.**

 **So, yeah, the guys do have a somewhat major role in this story, though not as major as the kids because I don't know if I can handle writing that many characters at once. But still, they have major roles here. Like how Riven will find *SPOILER BEEP* or how Timmy takes *SPOILER BEEP* or even the scene where Helia *SPOILER BEEP*. So yeah.**

 **Trivia: While Liz and Hans were named after literary characters, Emma and Leon were named after a poet and a painter because I'm really getting sick of nature-related names. Leon was named after Leonardo da Vinci while Emma was named after Emily Dickinson. To be honest, I really like their names, instead of say, naming them Rose and...err, Basil. You know what, I really like Basil, let's call Leon 'Basil' from now on (jk jk).**

 **Till next time!**


	6. 5 - Sorry

**Author's notes: Here's chapter 6, and it's kind of about the party. I say kind of because I decided to split it into two parts cause it's too long. Part two is a surprise ;) it's so much a surprise I don't even know when it will come either.**

 **Also! I hope you noticed the! new! cover! because yes there is a new cover! I drew it! I originally didn't plan this but I ended up sketching Stiles and before I knew it I drew the characters. Personally, I like how Leon and Rhys turned out, the others I think are meh. So can you tell which character is which? Do you like it? I mean, I'm not the best artist out there but I consider it decent at best, I hope you do too.**

 **Enough talking, on to the story!**

* * *

 ** _-Before-_**

 _It was in the middle of the night, the great kingdom of Eraklyon was dark and quiet as many of its citizens, whether it'd be the nobility or the peasantry, slumbered on peacefully. And this included the royal family as well._

 _The beloved king snored against the wooden surface of his desk, holding a folder containing missing persons' reports that threatened to fall off from his grasp as a concerned Duchess carefully put a blanket on his resting form. The young heir apparent of the throne sucked on his thumb, dried tears on his chubby little cheeks as he held his beloved story book closely to him, the only thing keeping him from throwing another fit. The very young princess, however..._

 _The infant was babbling amongst herself in her fancy little crib, her bright blue eyes soon threatening to close when a window slowly creaked open, and suddenly, someone was standing in front of the crib. The young princess blinked at the figure, being the shy baby she was, one would usually expect for her to suddenly cry, but instead, the girl started giggling as she held her pudgy arms out, as if expecting for the figure to hold her like...like who?_

 _A strained smile came on to the otherwise stoic looking figure as she clenched the object she was holding in her hand. She...didn't have time left, she was growing unstable day by day...it won't be a matter of time until...no, she thought with a frown, she shouldn't think about that. She looked down at the infant, her hardened expression softening. She needed to do this before it's too late. Before she's too far gone. "I'm sorry," She started, choosing her words carefully despite the fact that she was talking to an infant._

 _"I...I'm so sorry, for everything that had and will happen. I'm so sorry for leaving. I'm so sorry for... putting such a heavy weight on your shoulders, it hasn't been easy for me, how much more for a little one like you?" The infant continued babbling happily, waving her arms around._

 _The woman held out the object in her hands, revealing a small and simple-looking locket. The little princess tried reaching out for it, being the curious little thing she is. "I may not accompany you on your great journey, but...maybe this will aid you, and make things much easier. It may look simple, but it's powerful and has a lot of potential...just like you." She smiled as she carefully put the necklace around the infant. "So, take care of it, okay, darling?" Making promises with a baby...how silly, she thought fondly as she took a deep breath and turned, knowing that walking away will be hard, just like the first time, and it will be harder as she realized she won't come back._

 _Several nannies arrived as soon as the baby princess suddenly started wailing loudly, squirming and screeching violently. The baffled women looked at one another, feeling completely and utterly helpless as the infant continued with her crying. The infant's big, tearful blue eyes lay at the open windows, curtains still swaying around from the wind, as if someone had gone through it._

 _Who was that someone?_

* * *

 ** _-After-_**

The day of the party. Liz woke up with a heaving chest and damp cheeks as she sat up on her bed. She furrowed her brows as she wiped her confused tears off of her face. There it is again, another strange and unfamiliar dream that has some stranger saying confusing things. She thought she was over that by the time she was twelve, apparently not.

"Had a sad dream?" A cheery voice piped up, and Liz turned her head to see Emma on the other side of the room, sitting on her bed as she set some potential outfits on the mattress for the back to school party. Emma had been excited for the party ever since her brother and Brittany told her all about it the past week, Liz didn't mind her giddiness at first but it got annoying after Emma kept asking her for fashion advice and even went as far as to try to decide on her outfit in the middle of the night. It's not like Liz can do anything about it, anyway, Emma was a photographer at heart, so she had always been big on being aesthetically pleasing, whether it be people around her, the scenery, or even herself.

"I guess," Liz shrugged as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, not really wanting to talk about it. The last time she told someone, a duchess' son told her she was being crazy.

Emma seemed to notice it, "Oh, Liz, don't be embarrassed that you cried in your dreams!" She said, giving a comforting smile. "It's okay to dream about sad stuff. I sometimes dream about my pet dog, his name was Bacon Bits- don't ask why- and, you know, he died so young and-and- oh god, here comes the tears-" She placed a hand over her hand as she began to tear up.

Liz was taken aback by her. "Emma, are you okay-?"

"Yeah," Emma managed to choke up as she turned, "I'm-I'm okay, Liz, just-please excuse me," she ran to their shared bathroom and shut the door, probably to have some privacy after thinking about her deceased dog. Liz was about to reach out, but she eventually pursed her lips as she held herself back. The redhead sighed as she glanced at Emma's bed. No matter how many times she told her that the pink outfit was the best, she still wouldn't listen.

Liz walked out of her room and to the common room, the first thing she heard was some guy yelling random stuff with punches and kicks in the background. She looked up and saw one of her suite mates, Max, plopped up in one of the sofas, a can of soda in one hand and a phone on another as some wrestling show played on the television. Nothing was odd in the slightest except for one thing. "Where are the others?" Liz asked. Usually, Max, Cel, and Brittany would fight for the remote while Lana tried to calm things down every time she walked in the common room, profanities and junk food getting thrown around. But only Max was there, and the other three were nowhere to be seen or found.

It took a while for Max to respond, seeing as she was talking to someone else on the phone, something about juice and dirt. "Oh, Liz," She said half-heartedly, plopping herself up after the call ended. "Morning." She said, apparently she didn't hear what Liz said.

"Um, morning," Liz said, looking around. "Where are the others?"

"Ah, excellent question," Max said, rubbing her chin as she recounted what her suite mates told her. "Hmm, let's see, Lana is helping out with the party preparations, Brittany is out doing some last minute shopping, Cel is helping Cal out for something..." She recalled, "And from what I hear right now, Emma's in the bathroom crying, something about bacon bits. Can you please explain that?"

"Oh, it's just about her dead pet. I know it's weird. Don't ask me why, I don't know either." Liz told her. Max furrowed her brows but shrugged it off, letting it go. That's what Liz liked about Max, she just didn't care enough to try and pry things open, someone who's completely content with life and has no intention of learning more. At least, that's what she thought, not knowing that the fairy in front of her was responsible for ruining so many people's reputation in a span of two years.

The atmosphere was silent between them until Max spoke up. "Oh, by the way, the party's starting a few hours from now. Excited?" She asked, turning to the redhead. Liz shrugged, feeling neutral, though she was the introverted type, she didn't mind social gatherings. "Well, you should be. The climax is going to be so awesome."

"How can you say that?" Liz asked. The way Max said it was...malicious in a way as if she was planning something.

"Wait and see, Elizabeth Blaire, wait and see."

* * *

...

"Hold still!"

"I will if you stop brushing my hair with a sharp com-ow!"

"I wouldn't if your hair didn't break all of my combs and brushes!"

Lana continued whining as Brittany continued brushing her hair in a slightly aggressive manner, gritting her teeth as she held many pins and ties between her lips, it was almost like taming a lion's mane, maybe worse. The rest of the girls watched the two seniors' exchange in amusement.

It was now at least twenty minutes before the party is said to start, and most of the girls were already dressed nicely in their carefully chosen outfits or dresses (depends on their preference. Alfea really has gotten progressive over the years) and some were just making final adjustments like putting on extra makeup or putting on jewelry. Emma checked herself in the mirror every so often just in case something was out of place, Liz read a book until the party actually started, Cel was watching some zombie show on television, Max was texting someone on her phone, while Brittany and Lana were still bickering about Lana's wild hair.

"My goodness, just leave my hair alone! I like it wild and free!" Lana finally snapped, squirming around childishly.

Brittany stomped her foot on the ground like a stubborn child and gripped her brush, almost snapping it into two as she stomped to a nearby vacant sofa and sat down with a huff. "Fine," She muttered. Eventually, she lowered her tense shoulders and turned to the person next to her: Max. She smiled as she opened her mouth, "Hey, do you want some-?"

"No," Max told her flatly, not even looking up from her phone as she kept doing whatever on her phone. Brittany raised a brow as she peered over Max's shoulder.

"Who are you talking to? Ooh, is it a boy?"

"I guess?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Max rolled her eyes at the question. This conversation was going nowhere.

"That's none of your business, princess. Now, shimmy along." She told her, waving her hand as she scooted away from the brunette. She had to make her plan a secret, and with the exception of a few close friends and herself, absolutely no one should find out about it until it actually came to fruition, otherwise, it will be anticlimactic and boring. Brittany pouted as she crossed her arms and turned away.

The girls continued on with their own thing until they hear several loud footsteps thundering outside their dorm as if the person/s were in a hurry. They looked at one another with uneasiness as they can hear many doors slam open and slam shut, followed by either squeals or groans. "What's going on?" Emma squeaked. Cel shut the television slowly, the show she had been watching made her fear the worst. Everyone else shared looks, and before they can even answer the freshman's question, their own door suddenly slammed open.

Some fairy- a senior, Madison, Liz recalled- had her head poked in through their door, her face sweating beads and she was panting as if she had been running in a marathon. "You!"

Both Brittany and Lana stood up, recognizing their friend and fellow classmate. "Mad, what's going on?" Lana asked. 'Mad' was her and several others' nickname for her friend due to Madison's tendency to be quite a control freak, she was also called 'Madison the Mad' by Brittany but other seniors deemed it too long. But then again, the senior was the school council president, so where was the surprise.

"What," Madison panted, throwing her thumb over her shoulder. "What are you guys still doing here?! The party's already started so you all better get your butts in the courtyard right now-"

"Wait, what?" Cel demanded, standing up from where she was sitting. "Don't we still have at least fifteen minutes? Miss Griselda specifically stated that the party starts at seven thirty in the evening, not earlier or later. What the hell?"

Madison muttered something about profanity before shaking her head. "Apparently some guy from Red Fountain misread the invitation and so the Specialists are already here." She explained. "Look, if you don't want this back to school dance to turn into some college fraternity party then kindly go down there already. I still have at least twenty more dorms to inform so ciao!" With that, the door slammed close and off 'Madison the Mad' went.

* * *

...

"Why am I with a bunch of lower levels again?"

"Oh trust me, we don't want you anywhere near us either." Callum quietly retorted, quiet enough for the arrogant prince to not hear, but loud enough for the others to hear. Rhys and Kai snorted while Leon shot his friend a warning look. Stiles didn't seem to notice, or maybe he did and just didn't bother to react.

An awkward silence was in the air in the Owl as six Specialists maneuvered the ship in silence, each tried to engage in polite small talk but found it difficult without leaving at least someone out of the conversation. The only sounds in the ship were the beeping at the control panel and one of the guys shifting their seat or sneezing every once in a while. Was it mentioned that the atmosphere was really awkward?

Leon was about to open his mouth but eventually closed it again as he pursed his lips, gripping the steering wheel. Why were he and Callum assigned on the same ship as total strangers? They had already their own squad, so what was the point? He barely knew these guys other than they were his father's friends' sons and brief glances around the school. Sure, there were rumors that he and Hansel or Stiles are best friends or something, but that wasn't true. Hansel wouldn't even spare him a glance during lunch and Stiles just wasn't the type that he could be very close with.

Today was Alfea's 'Back to School' dance, party, whatever it was called, and Red Fountain was invited as always, so the majority of the Specialist students, whether it'd be seniors to freshmen, were off to Alfea with their latest fashion senses and crazed hormones to attempt to woo and dance with probably (not) interested fairies. Leon sighed, it wasn't like he didn't enjoy parties or anything, he just wasn't in the mood right now. He didn't know why, but he felt it, deep inside, that something was going to go wrong.

"Asshole!" Hans suddenly screeched as another ship passed by them recklessly, almost touching their own ship. If the two Owls collided somehow, then they'll be dead for sure.

"Ironic," Cal muttered. Prince Hansel's head quickly snapped to the sophomore.

"What did you just say?"

Callum's brain just short circuited, knowing that pissing off the great and majestic Prince Hansel of Eraklyon was almost like a death sentence. "Iconic?"

Hansel pursed his lips, before turning away with his eyes on the road, or the sky. Leon sighed yet again, for a smart guy, Cal sure does love opening his mouth more than his mind, making him sound quite insensitive and apathetic. But Leon decided that Hansel probably deserved it.

"So!" Rhys suddenly spoke up, looking around the inside of the ship. "Since like four of you are- like what Headmaster Helia says- our 'big brothers', can you tell us about the party we're going to?"

"Oh, yeah," Kai said as he adjusted himself in his seat. "It'd better be worth it since I didn't just waste a night of potentially playing video games for just a boring old tea party full of girls."

"It's really fun!" Stiles was the first to pipe up, grinning at the two freshmen. "At first it's just us chit-chattering with fairies with snacks and chill music, but as the night progresses, it gets crazier. Like, really crazy!"

Rhys and Kai seemed interested. "Really? How crazy?"

"You just have to find out for yourself," Leon told them, turning to them. "Trust me, it's worth it."

"Especially if Max has something up her sleeve..." Cal muttered.

"Trust us," Stiles smiled, "The party's going to be fun."

"If you say so..."

* * *

 **Author's notes: So that's...that I guess. Who was the woman in the flashback? What was that all about? What's Max's plan? What would happen in the party? Why did it take six chapters for the next gen Specialists to have a proper scene together? Why would Emma name her pet 'Bacon Bits'? So many questions...probably won't answer all of them.**

 **Trivia: Weirdly enough, Max and Rhys were both named after video game characters. Maxine from 'Life is Strange' and Rhys from 'The Tales from the Borderlands'. What's even weirder is that they don't share any resemblance to their namesakes. Like instead of Max, Emma is *almost* like LiS!Maxine while instead of Rhys, Kai is *almost* like TfTB!Rhys. I don't know why either.**

 **Not more to say. Till next time.**


	7. 6 - Farce

**Author's notes: okay sorry for the late update, last week has been hectic and also, this cHAPTER IS OVER 5000 WORDS LONG. so yeah even if i hadnt updated last week i hope it this chapters length will make up for it.**

* * *

 ** _-before-_**

The king consort of Solaria scanned through numerous papers in his- no, it doesn't really belong to him- desk, signing a now sloppy signature at every end of every paper containing a proposal of some sort. There are so many proposals and requests, most of them quite useless and silly, like there was this noble demanding that there should be 'dog barking curfews', whatever that meant, he shook his head, that guy has been demanding that for years now.

He sighed as he reclined in his seat. There were still mountains of papers to go through and it was about three in the morning, he had a council meeting at seven. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, he never thought being a ruling monarch was this...tiring and stressing. But maybe it's because he was not very prepared, he was just supposed to be the King Consort, after all, it's nothing but a title and he doesn't have any responsibilities other than being there in ceremonies, maintaining a good reputation throughout the kingdom, and helping out and advising his wife every once in a while.

But with his wife just...gone, his children, the heirs, nowhere near the age of majority, and the former monarchs currently enjoying their retirement, it's been decided in the council that the husband of the Queen will be in charge of the kingdom until the intended heir, the currently eight-year-old princess, comes of age...or, if the queen comes back and continues her duties. The latter of which becoming a distant dream as time goes on.

His face contorted into sadness. He missed her. He missed her so much. Yet at the same time, he was angry at her. Angry at her for leaving everyone behind. Her parents, her children, her kingdom...him.

Eventually, his eyelids started dropping. To say he was exhausted, was an understatement. He let sleep overtake him as his head dropped to the desk full of papers, his eyes opened for a few moments as he heard a quiet, subtle noise somewhere. Probably some of the papers, he assumed, but his eyes told otherwise as he saw in his peripheral vision, was a bright light of yellow. It was brief, but he noticed it. Unfortunately, the need for sleep was stronger than curiosity, and so he fell asleep, forgetting about the strange light.

The next morning, he woke up with a blanket covering him and the papers organized.

No one was said to have come in his office last night.

...

 ** _-after-_**

"...This is boring."

The whining came from the boyish Prince of Andros as he leaned on one of the buffet tables with a few more people. His cheeky friend and roommate, Rhys, leaned on the same table next to him, currently snacking on some finger foods. Kai sighed as he took a sip on his punch, looking around. Many Specialists of varying ages, year levels, and status were already filling up the courtyard of the 'girly' (at least to him) college, few more about to arrive as they landed their ships.

Though a surge of Specialists was arriving, ready to party, it doesn't seem like Alfea was ready at all, with many fairies and staff scrambling around to make final preparations, like making sure the snacks were plentiful, fixing the party lights and other decors, and assembling the DJ booth. Thus, there were barely any snacks, the decorations looked like a disaster, and there wasn't even music. Kai frowned.

What a disaster of a party, and it hasn't even started yet, as even the fairies of Alfea wasn't ready themselves. The fairies were still apparently fixing makeup or making final touches to their outfits in their dorms, at least, that's what he heard.

"How pathetic," Kai heard someone muttered behind him, and though he still wasn't that much familiar with his school mates, he knew that pessimistic and snobbish voice anywhere. The great and majestic Prince Hansel. He rolled his eyes as he turned to look at the prince, Hans was apparently with his circle of friends that he carefully chose, making sure they were of 'high status', meaning other Princes, sons of Dukes, and other nobles or boys of royal blood. "This never happened last year or the year before that. Just goes to show how Alfea is degrading over the years...I'm really starting to feel bad for Elizabeth at this point."

Another person scoffed at what he assumed to be Hans' statement. Kai turned to the voice and saw the son of the Headmaster-Leonard, he believed- and another boy with hair the color of oranges. Kai almost smacked himself for not recalling the two, they were the ones he rode the ship with, and he didn't even bother knowing their names, well, the latter one, anyway.

Apparently, the one who scoffed was the orange boy (he'll call the guy that for now). "It's not even Alfea's fault, we just came in early! If anything, we're to blame." The guy muttered. "Cel told me earlier that the party starts at 7:30, but did anyone listen? No..."

Leon sighed, "It's okay, buddy, it's okay. We're only fifteen minutes early anyway, it won't be long until the party actually starts."

"It's actually going to start now!" A blonde boy- Stiles, Kai believed- piped towards the two boys, pointing at his wrist watch.

And, as if it was on cue, horns started sounding and all the Specialists turned to the source, quieting down as they knew what was going to happen. And as expected, the ever so strict Headmistress of Alfea College for Fairies cleared her throat, before declaring the start of the party as Alfea's doors opened and out came the beautiful and magical girls of Alfea, beaming with excitement. The Specialists also apparently shared their excitement, their faces lighting up as they looked at the girls.

It seemed that the prince of Solaria wasted no time approaching the girls. "Gotta go!" He said as he left. Both Leon and his friend looked at one another with a look, before groaning and rolling their eyes.

"Ugh, what a playboy."

...

Once the great doors of the pink building were opened, the fairies, donned in their latest or favorite outfits with their bright smiles, immediately walked towards the party, whether it be towards the snacks, maybe the dance floor, or towards some familiar Specialists like their friend, lover, crush, or brother. Others, however, like the majority of the freshmen fairies, were more hesitant, not sure what to do or where to go.

One certain senior noticed the timid new fairies and stopped where she was going. "Hey, what're you guys waiting for? The third sun of Solaria to appear?" Brittany asked her underclassmen, tilting her head and her hand on her hip. "The party's already started! Let's go!" She said, but it seemed that the newbies weren't at all convinced as they never seemed to budge one bit.

Brittany pursed her lips. As much as she wanted to mingle with her friends and party, she couldn't just ignore the freshmen who were too shy to even step foot into the party. She was not that person. Brittany looked around the courtyard, and her disappointed and hopeless frown soon turned into a sly smile as she spotted a head full of blond hair splashed with some brown approaching them. She turned back to the underclassmen. "You know, staying in this area won't do you any justice." She started, her peripheral vision indicating that the blonde was now nearby, ready to make his move. "Isn't that right, brother dear?"

"That's right, sister dear!" Everyone's eyes turned to the bright voice, and nearly every girl's eyes widened and their jaw dropped.

Standing in front of them was the boy that almost every teenage girl has a poster of somewhere in their room, the boy whose face is plastered on every fashion or teen girl magazine, the boy whose mere smile or gaze could make an average girl swoon, the boy who they thought was just a stuff of dreams and who they had no chance with in real life. The boy who has no idea.

It was none other than Prince Stiles of Solaria, looking as charming as ever with his adorable smile and designer outfit.

"Oh my god it's him." One freshman squeaked, putting her hand over her mouth as her best friend held her for support.

"Somebody pinch me!" Another freshman yelled somewhere in the crowd.

"Akjdnaskjdaskjdnsandsad-"

Stiles smiled an adorable looking smile at the freshmen as he approached them closer, and obviously, several screams and squeals ensued that moment, but the blond doesn't seem to notice. "Hi! Why aren't lovely fairies such as yourselves not enjoying the party?" He asked curiously, now awfully close to one of the fairies, who stood completely stunned. "I myself can't bear to party myself, knowing that lovely ladies like you aren't partying yourselves. So, try and enjoy yourselves in this back to school party, for me, please?" He pleaded with a puppy-like look, clapping his hands together to make a pleading gesture.

The freshmen fairies looked at each other, stunned that such a prominent prince of a prominent realm would care about whether they enjoyed the party or not. Filled with determination to keep the boy fairly content, the girls looked at each other and smiled. "Yeah!" They cheered as they ran to the party, passing by Stiles with smiles and waves, to which the prince reciprocated. Stiles' smile was wide as he watched the girls try to enjoy themselves, happy that he encouraged many people again.

Ever since he was very young, Prince Stiles realized that many people around him were very miserable. From his grandparents- former monarchs Radius and Luna- flinching every time he became a bit too cheerful, Courtiers and other nobles giving a sad glance whenever they pass by some portraits in the great palace halls, many of the people of Solaria remarking sadly how he reminded them of someone, to even his own father- the strongest and bravest man he knew- crying, sobbing on certain days. Even now, how Hansel repressed some problems so hard it turned into anger issues, how Callum found it hard to relate to other people, how there was this empty look in Leonard's eyes...how Headmaster Helia and other staff seemed to grimace every time he saw his own son and his friends' sons.

But as Stiles grew older, he realized he had this certain charm about him that seemed to make people happier, even a little bit in a little while. He would often play harmless pranks on nobles and courtiers when he was a child, feeling accomplished at seeing their faces smile or even laugh, he would act polite and proper around his grandparents so that they wouldn't look like they were about to cry whenever they caught sight of their own grandson, he doesn't bring up why Brandon cries during certain days because he already knew why, and would rather pretend nothing happened.

A lot of people think that Prince Stiles of Solaria is just some pretty boy with a dash of stupidity. But if observing and understanding how people feel, and how to fix that problem (albeit temporarily) isn't smart, then what is?

As he looked at the now partying fairies, he didn't realize someone was still standing in front of him, still stunned.

"Um..."

"Oh!" Stiles looked down and saw a pretty fairy, from what he can tell, she was probably a freshman as well. He cocked a brow, was it just him, or does the girl look...familiar? As if he's seen her before, during his innocent childhood days- an old playmate, perhaps?- He shook his head, disregarding the thought as he replaced his baffled expression to his charming one. "What are you still doing here? Just so you know, I want everyone to try and enjoy the party, so that includes you!" He smiled as he winked, a habit of his that he often used as a friendly gesture- no one really had the heart to tell him it was primarily used for flirting. "Or do you want me to accompany you, miss-?" He asked pleasantly, holding her hand.

"Emma," The girl squeaked. Emma looked up at the tall blond, Stiles was even more handsome in real life than in magazines! And to think that he's in front of her, talking to her...holding her hand.

"So," Stiles said, "do you want me to accompany you?"

"S-sure..."

...

After making sure Stiles took care of the timid freshmen, Brittany was now walking around the party, looking for her group of friends consisting of princesses and many girls of reputable statuses. Finally, she found them, obviously standing out in the crowd with their elaborate outfits and haughty laughter. They may sound unpleasant and stuck up at first, but trust Brittany, they act like this in public but when it comes to just them, hanging around in their room, they're actually quite different, laughing and snorting at fart jokes and wearing worn out and big shirts.

Just goes to show how one shouldn't judge based on appearances.

Brittany smiled upon seeing her friends and was about to walk towards her friends, only to stopped by someone. "Princess Brittany!" Someone exclaimed in delight. Brittany whipped her head around and saw a rather lanky looking boy, with short, light brown hair and freckles dusting his face.

She lacked a reaction at first before her face lit up at the realization of who it was. "Oh, Phillip!" She exclaimed in delight, running to embrace the boy. "How have you been?"

"Quite fine, dear princess," Philip smiled at her, returning her embrace, and Brittany gladly returned the smile. Philip was one of Brittany's childhood friends who lived in the same palace as she, he was the son of an Earl and was the same age as her, so they got along quite great in their childhood. However, they soon drifted apart after Philip started acting very shy and timid around her, blushing and stuttering his words. Brittany wasn't sure why at the time but she thought he was angry at her for something, and so they distanced themselves from one another. "How about you?"

"Good as well," Brittany nodded.

Their conversation continued with laughter and witty remarks as they both caught up with one another's lives, she learned that Philip and other sons of nobility in Solaria was recently transferred to Red Fountain due to the King's orders, which confused Brittany at first, why would King Brandon order the sons to go to a military school, unless...

Philip didn't seem to notice something wrong with the king's orders, assuming that's probably because nobles should know how to fight. And so, the conversation continues nonetheless, going from Solaria to their favorite flavors of cake.

"Hey, Bitchney!" Their blissful conversation was interrupted, however, by a certain blond prince. Philip was confused by it while Brittany's mood turned sour as they turned to see the source of the voice.

Standing in front of them, was Princess Brittany of Solaria's one and only rival, Prince Hansel of Eraklyon.

"Oh, please, Hanshole, I don't have any time for this so please spread your douchebaggery somewhere else." Brittany snapped, narrowing her eyes at the blond. Philip and many others were taken aback by this, Princess Brittany never acted this harsh to anyone before. And so, many people surrounded the two rivals, curious as to what will happen.

Hans didn't seem to be phased at all as he walked closer to her. Brittany stood her ground while Philip took a few steps back. "Really now," Hansel smirked, "If so, then you should take off somewhere else too. No one needs to be in close proximity with such hypocrite."

"Coming from the king of hypocrisy himself, I'll gladly take that as a compliment." She retorted.

Hans' face contorted into anger at the statement, "Why you-" He was about to approach her but stopped himself, adjusting his tie. "-I wouldn't. I have class, after all, unlike some people..." He said, his light blue eyes landing on the brunette.

Brittany's eye twitched in annoyance, "Wow, not only are you the king of hypocrisy, you're also a pathological liar. Nice. What're your other talents, your highness?"

Hans clenched his fist, realizing he had no other comebacks for the statement. He looked around and saw Philip, who was standing behind Brittany as a mere bystander. He internally smirked as he quickly made a plan in his head. "Well, whatever, you win in this round of our farce, I guess," He muttered, looking up. "But oh, who is this?" Hansel sarcastically wondered as he pointed at the boy behind his rival. "Is that loser your boyfriend, by any chance, Brittany?" Hans asked fakely in a curious manner.

She was caught off guard at this. "What-"

"Hah! Don't tell me you have so low a standard that that freak has a chance!" Hans said, laughing as he pointed at the timid boy behind his rival. Many people laughed as well.

Brittany turned back to her friend, who was obviously embarrassed, covering his face and on a verge of curling up into a ball. She pursed her lips as she attempted to comfort him, knowing how it must be for him. "Don't-!"

"Princess Brittany of Solaria, dating a weakling who barely knows how to use a sword!" Hansel continued, and more laughter ensued. He approached the boy, pushing Brittany aside and grabbing Philip by the collar. "Complete, and utterly pathetic." He said, spilling the boy's clothes with the punch he snatched from one of the bystanders. Hans dropped Philip carelessly and smirked as he basked in the laughter he was causing in the crowd, barely noticing Philip crawling away.

The brunette princess was beyond enraged. "That is enough!" She shouted so loud that the laughter quickly died down. With her eyes blazing with hatred, she glared at Hans. "You're such an insensitive jerk," She said, it was more a whisper, yet it rang in Hans' head more than any sound could. It was supposed to be just a witty and many a bit inapropriate farce they always did, not a game to ruin reputations. Her word was mild compared to her over the top insults, and yet it affected Hans more than usual since, for once, this was true.

Brittany ran to catch up to her friend as the crowd dispersed. Hansel stood there, quiet. He looked around and saw a certain person in the crowd, her eyes wide and her lips pursed. It was his sister, Elizabeth, who looked very disappointed at her own brother. He was about to reach out to his sister, explain what happened, but then again, what was there to explain? Unfortunately, before he could reach his sister, Liz walked away, probably disgusted to be related to scum.

The moment where even Liz iwas disgusted at his actions, made Hansel feel truly terrible.

...

"-So, anyway, there's this really pretty girl I wanna introduce to you, she seems like your type so-"

"Ugh, there he goes again." Cel interrupted the previous conversation with a groan and an eye roll. Max and Cel were standing around with two Specialists, their other friends were off to the buffet tables to get a snack, so it's just them and their little group of "people born of high expectations because of what their parents did" club. At this point, the party now looked quite decent, with decorations now intact and the DJ was now handling the music, playing calm tunes as many people exchanged pleasantries, others danced mildly, and some were snacking. Cel was looking at a certain blond prince, dragging a 'poor' little freshman with him around the party. She looked at them with disgust.

"Where's the surprise, Cel?" Max rolled her eyes, "I still don't get why you're so focused on the guy. Leave him alone."

Cel gripped her cup a bit tighter. "I'm not focused on him. He's just- very annoying."

"In what way, exactly?" Leon asked, cocking a brow at the pinkette.

"She's being ridiculous." Callum shook his head. Celine hissed at him.

The four of them, along with maybe Stiles every once in a while, were quite good friends. It actually started when they were young children, going on play dates together with the other Winx children. Liz, Emma, Rhys, and Kai, who were all six years old at the time, were considered too young for them to play with, while they deemed Brittany, Lana, and Hansel, who were all eight at the time, as too old to play with. So the then five seven-year-olds stuck together like some sort of pack, and it stuck. 10 years later and their little squad was still going strong, which is quite an impressive feat.

"Watch," was the only thing Cel told her friends as Stiles and Emma passed by them. Cel whistled to get their attention, and obviously, it did get their attention as Stiles turned to them. Before Stiles could pleasantly ask how she was doing, Cel beat him to it. "Nice bald spot, Stiles!" She yelled over the music. It wasn't a very pleasant thing to say.

Instead of reacting as if he was offended or even angry at the blunt insult, Stiles smiled bashfully as he rubbed his head. "It's actually the darker roots of my hair, but thanks, Celly!" He then walked off with a baffled Emma.

"See?!" Cel yelled, gesturing to the prince at the distance. She stomped her foot childishly. "Nothing ever gets to him! He disgusts me."

"Or maybe you like him."

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Max shrugged, sipping on her punch. Cel frowned but she didn't push it any further.

Leon looked at his friend next to him, who seemed to be down for some reason. "Hey, buddy, is anything wrong?"

Callum looked up and looked at the blond prince and a freshman fairy with empty eyes. "...Aren't you upset at all that Stiles managed to snag your sister?"

The boy looked to where Callum was looking. Stiles was talking to Emma about something, probably a joke, as both of them were laughing, Emma especially. He looked back at Callum. "Not really," He said, "I know Stiles, and he isn't that kind of guy to do that. He's just getting her in the mood for the party, cheering her up, you know?" Callum responded with an empty 'oh'. Leon quirked a brow at his friend. "Wait...Callum, you aren't jealous by any chance, are you?"

"What, of course not," The response was quick and brief. Leon narrowed his eyes, before shaking his head. It's probably just one of his friend's many, yet fleeting crushes. Even if Cal did have a crush on Emma, it would probably disappear in, say, a month, and he'll be crushing on someone else. Cal's one romantically confused guy, Leon realized.

Max looked around the area with narrowed eyes, sipping her punch. "The music sucks," She finally said, "Who's handling the music? A damn 50 year old? What kind of music is this? Sounds like I'm in a funeral."

"I think Jeremy," Callum shrugged.

"Who?"

"You know," Cel shrugged as well. "That Jeremy, green hair, lanky, kind of awkward. I think he had a thing for you last year too-"

"Ah, that freak." Max muttered as she finished her punch, roughly shoving the cup into Callum's hands. "Hey, Calculus, we're best friends, right?" She asked the boy with an out of character smile. "I remember chilling with you in fifth grade-"

Callum pursed his lips as he looked down at her. He knew what she was planning, and he doesn't like it at all. "For the last time, please stop calling me that. Also, you shoved me into a jock's locker in sixth grade-"

"-Not my fault for thinking you and Kell were meant to be," Max shrugged as she approached Cal and slung her arm around his shoulders. "Anyway, since we're the bestest buddies ever, can you do me, your best best friend, a favor, best friend dear?" She asked sweetly. Leon watched the scene in interest while Cel was rolling her eyes.

Callum furrowed his brows. "I'm not your little tech- ugh, fine, what is it?"

"Oh, you know," She told him with a wink. Callum sighed and turned.

"Fineee. I'll get the equipment." Callum muttered.

Max smiled. "Yesss! Thanks, Calculus!"

"That's not my name-!" Cal was about to shout but Max had already walked away, probably to sabotage the current DJ and steal the booth for herself. The ginger-haired boy muttered something under his breath, before turning to Leon, handing him the cup Max had shoved in his arms. "Hey, can you throw this for me? I need to get the equipment out before Max freaks."

"Sure," Leon accepted the cup, shrugging. He looked at his friend, the guy does not seem to be pleased about his situation at all. "So...err, you and Max, huh?" He whistled.

Callum looked up and furrowed his brows at his friend. "Huh, what? Max? Me? Together?" He scoffed. "Nah. She's not my type and she sort of plays for the other team." He shrugged, before walking off.

Now it was just Celine and Leon hanging out, had they're not good friends, then it would have been awkward, but it isn't, thankfully. "Your brother's a doormat," Leon said bluntly, turning to Celine. The girl shrugged.

"Where's the lie?"

...

Philip ran outside the campus and to the forest located between all three schools, the now blaring music in the school and the party lights disappearing as he went deeper and deeper into the forest. He made sure Brittany had lost him before he sat down in some log and gripped his soaked shirt, clenching his fist. He felt angry, he felt truly angry. What was Hans' problem? What the fuck was his problem- He stood up and threw the log he was sitting on against a tree. He felt nothing but overwhelming anger at the moment, his vision clouded in red as he kicked another tree, becoming even more infuriated when he saw that his kick that hurt his leg had barely left a dent on the wooden surface.

He was about to punch a tree when he heard some humming in the background. He stood still and looked around, trying to find where the humming was coming from. He soon found the direction and slowly and cautiously approached it, watching out for some crunchy leaves and twigs. Finally, he arrived at the humming, pushing aside a bush to see a clearing of some sort, and in that clearing, stood two young children facing away from him, a boy and a girl.

The two children stopped their humming, and Philip was about to panic when he realized they probably heard him, but it seemed they didn't notice him at all, looking up at the sky instead.

"Dear sister, is that the song of the birds I hear?"

"No, dear brother, that is the cry of the forest."

"Is that the moon's bright glow I see, dear sister?"

"No, that is just the flames burning, dear brother."

Philip furrowed his brows in confusion. Cry of the forest? Flames burning? None of these things are happening. What were these two talking about? Thinking this was probably just some weird cult, Philip slowly backed away.

"Please cleanse this filth made by our pretentious mother, please make the world keep turning and turning," The two chanted. Philip, starting to get rather unnerved, continued to back away until he stepped on a twig, resulting in a very loud crack.

The two children's heads whipped around to see him, and they gave him unsettling grins as if they already knew he was there. He can see the children clearly now, they were obviously twins, with thick, light green hair that reached the nape (for the girl), and the ears (for the boy), and they both shared bright purple eyes comparable to amethysts. If it weren't for their unsettling grin, he would have considered them adorable.

He backed away from the children after they started approaching him slowly in a creepy manner. "What's going on-" His words were cut short as he heard a dull clank, and before he knew it, he was on the ground with his head in tremendous pain. He didn't see who or what did it, but what he did see was a lock of blonde hair for a second, before disappearing like a phantom.

Soon enough, the children stood over him, still with their unsettling grins. "Please make the world keep turning and turning, mister," The boy sweetly told him.

"What are you-"

The last thing he saw was a yellow orb coming at him.

* * *

 **Author's notes: So, how was it? Good? Bad? Could've been better? Also, sorry if some scenes were lacking, I was kind of brain dead when I was writing half the chapter. There will be a next part to the party which will be shorter I'd assume, and then after that, the plot finally starts, yay!**

 **Oh, and you might have noticed some hinted pairings in there. I'm really not sure who's gonna end up with who at the moment but I'm experimenting. So, which sounds good? Emma and Stiles? Emma and Callum? Celine and Stiles? Brittany and Philip? Celine and Leon? Callum and Max (probs not)? Brittany and Hansel? Or maybe bromances, like Kai and Rhys? Leon and Callum? That's not even half of the potential pairings. So if you have any suggestions on who has nice chemistry, then let me know! I really need it.**

 **Anyways, this is really long already and I really want to go to bed so for now, ciao!**


	8. 7 - gold

Brittany's face was etched in worry rather than fear as she pushed through many branches and bushes and twisted and turned to where her friend might possibly be, the bright glow of the moon the only thing illuminating her path. She knew she was being very foolish by running through a dark forest at night alone and unarmed, but she wanted to know Philip was alright, she just had to. Her brows furrowed in anger, how dare Hansel drag a bystander to their petty fight like that? She swore the next time she sees that pathetic face of his, she's going to give him a piece of her mind.

"Gihihihi," a creepy giggle sounded throughout the clearing she was in, presumably belonging to one or more children, which made it even more creepy. She pursed her lips as she saw in her peripheral vision two small figures of what appeared to be children, and she sharply turned to them, only to find nothing.

The Solarian princess took a step back and gulped, feeling really unnerved at this point. She took another step back, and another, and then another, before realizing she had now bumped into something, or rather...someone. And so, she did the most sensible thing a person could do in the situation.

She shrieked and ran.

"Wait...!" The person called out. Brittany looked back briefly and saw blond hair and royal blue clothing, and she instantly knew who it was, yet she still kept running, despite the person's outstretched arm reaching out in a vain attempt to apologize.

She ran and ran, wanting to be as far, far away from that scum. She wasn't even looking to where she was going at this point, nearly crashing into trees and tripping over vines, but what really stopped her in her tracks, was bumping into another certain person, this time, the person she actually wants to see. "Philip!" She gasped, embracing the boy. She noticed that he was unusually cold, and stiffened upon contact, but she didn't pay much attention to it. "Are you okay? I'm so, so, so, so, so, sorry for what happened earlier! Hansel is such an asshole, I swear-"

"I'm fine," His voice was unusually cold and monotone, and his eyes lacked the vibrancy and was devoid of any kind of emotion, as if it was empty. Brittany pursed her lips, Philip never acted like this before.

"A-are you sure-"

"Yes," Philip said. His stern tone suggested that this was the end of the discussion, and he wasn't really in the mood to talk. So, before the princess could speak up, Philip walked past Brittany and back to where the party was held, without batting an eye or looking back. "See you."

Brittany pursed her lips as she looked at his figure disappearing between the trees.

Something was wrong.

* * *

...

Emma smiled and laughed softly as one of her friends told her some joke, many of her friends also laughed but everyone knew that the joke was lame, they just didn't want to make the joker feel bad. It was about an hour after Stiles had charmed Emma into enjoying the party, and she did, enjoying the snacks and chattering with her friends, though once Stiles deemed her to be now comfortable in the party, he respectfully left her, walking to a group of his friends for a change, not that she minded or anything but it was indeed quite a bummer.

"What does a cell say when his sister steps on his toe-?"

She tried listening to the joke, she swore, but another sound had distracted her. Sobs. It sounded like someone was crying. But who? Where? Why?

"Emma?" One of her friends, Allie, asked after the fake laughter died down resulting from the joke. "Are you okay?"

"Did you guys hear that?" Emma asked them as she frantically looked around. "Someone's crying."

Her friends looked at one another with baffled and confused looks, before shrugging. "What do you mean, Em? I don't hear anything even remotely close to someone crying," Another one of her friends, Irina, said, and everyone agreed.

"It's probably just your imagination," Another one of her friends, Elle (the one telling the lame jokes), said slowly.

"I'm not imagining things, I swear!" Emma said defiantly, but her friends did not seem convinced at all. She frowned at their skepticism, "Fine, I'll prove it to you! Someone really is crying!" She said as she walked away, trying to track where the crying is coming from despite her friends' protests. She looked around, through the crowds with fierce determination. She was a naturally nice person, eager to help people, so when someone is crying, she would always want to help.

Finally, she caught a glimpse of green hair in the direction of the cries, and she knew immediately who it was.

"Nemesis!"

Indeed, it was her. She was in a corner, all curled up into a ball in the floor as she sobbed, streaks of what used to be makeup was streaming down her cheeks. She was a mess. Emma immediately ran to her side and held her comfortingly, "Nemesis, what happened?" She asked worriedly to the sobbing girl. She had never really seen Nemesis since the first day, but still she was Nemesis' friend, and friends help one another.

"I...I..." Nemesis could barely speak, all choked up due to her tears. Emma frowned, someone must have humiliated her or something, no one would cry like this in public unless it was caused by someone else. What also bothered her was how everyone around them ignored them, acting like there wasn't a girl crying her eyes out in the middle of the party.

"Shh, it's okay," Emma said as she helped the girl stand up, handing her a handkerchief. Nemesis stared at the piece of fabric as if she was shocked, as if she never expected it. Hesitantly, she accepted the handkerchief and wiped her face with it, muttering a quiet, but genuine 'thank you'. Emma gave her a soft smile, before frowning as she turned to the people around them. "Okay, who did this to her?!" Emma demanded to every loudly, to the point where everyone in close proximity had heard her.

"Who did what to who?" A boy blurted in a questioning and confused tone. Everyone seemed to feel the same as well as Emma felt genuinely confused faces around her.

"Who made Nemesis cry?" Emma questioned, feeling a bit uneasy. Why was everyone so confused?

"Nemesis?" A fairy questioned, blinking. "I never heard of a Nemesis," She said, shaking her head. Everyone around had shaken their heads as well, not really knowing of a Nemesis in the school campus.

"And no one was crying either," A Specialist told her.

Emma's eyes widened, "What do you mean no one was crying?! Nemesis was crying just right here-!?" She quickly turned to where Nemesis was standing...only to find absolutely no one. It was as if Nemesis...was never there. "What? No, no! Nemesis was here-"

Everyone stared at her oddly, their stares were painfully judgmental and full of doubt. "Don't tell me the Headmaster's daughter is turning into a lunatic," One Specialist snickered to the other. Everyone, now deeming the situation as a waste of their time, turned away and continued on with their pleasantries and conversations.

"I swear she was here..."

* * *

...

Liz sighed as she looked around the party, the fight her brother was in was still fresh in her mind. No doubt that it will find its way to news articles as soon as tomorrow morning, and no doubt their father, King Sky, would summon them back to Eraklyon just to rant about maintaining a good image and being role models for Eraklyon's youth. She frowned, she still couldn't believe that Hansel could do such a thing, sure he was a bit insensitive and arrogant, but to think he would publicly humiliate someone like that...

Not only does she have to deal with the overwhelming expectations her late mother had unknowingly placed on her, being a princess of one of the biggest kingdoms in the Magic Dimension, but she also now has to deal with people asking her why her brother is acting like such a jackass.

"What your brother did was not cool," Someone next to her had said. Great, not even an hour after the controversy and someone is already bugging her about her brother. She looked up, it was a Specialist, probably a freshman as she was, his dark magenta hair was slicked back and his slanted eyes reminded her of the dark blue sky. The boy had this somewhat intimidating aura radiating from his form, yet his soft smile told otherwise. She squinted her eyes slightly to the boy, has she seen him before? "Err, hello? Earth to Liz, Earth to Liz, helloooo..." He said after a while, slouching slightly to fully face Liz, poking her forehead.

Liz blinked for a few moments, before suddenly stepping back as hues of pink dusted her cheeks. The boy's face was way too close to hers, even if it is a handsome one. However, what the boy said made her confused. Did he just call her 'Liz'? Most people referred to her as (Princess) Elizabeth, only those who do personally know her call her by 'Liz'. "You know me?" She blurted, ignoring his previous statement about her brother.

"'Course," The boy said in a 'duh' tone, as if she was going to understand. Still seeing her confused expression, he furrowed his brows. "Erm, I'm Rhys. We played together when we were kids, don't you remember?"

"Not really..." Okay, first it was Emma who insists that they played together when they were younger, and then there's Rhys?

"We used to play together too!" Another voice joined in, and another boy's head appeared from behind Rhys. His dark brown hair was gelled into a messy quiff-like hair style, few stray hairs fell carelessly on his bright cerulean eyes. He also gave the same familiar vibe as Rhys, as if she has seen him before as well. "But I was always a damn third wheel whenever you two hung out," He muttered bitterly. "I'm Kai, by the way, just in case you don't remember, princess Liz," He said with a sly grin, his mood shifting from bitter to calm in a matter of seconds.

Rhys looked at Kai oddly, "Third wheel? Since when?"

Before Kai could answer, the lights were suddenly turned off and the music abruptly stopped. Many freshmen fairies and Specialists gasped and others even shrieked, but needless to say, almost all freshmen and newbies were confused as to what was going on. Sophomores and Seniors on the other hand, simply sighed, or became slightly giddy with excitement as they knew what was going to happen.

Finally, a stage light of some sort was lit and was aimed towards the DJ booth, revealing a grinning Max. Liz looked around for the source of the stage light and saw a boy with a striking resemblance to one of her suite mates, holding the thing with slight uncertainty and slight excitement.

"Callum of Zenith, the son of the strategic member of the famous Winx Club, Celine's brother, and Maxine's right hand man," Another boy nearby observed. Liz turned to him and cocked a brow. The boy looked older than she, maybe a year or two, with neat, dirty blonde hair and wore small rectangular glasses. He was rather odd looking, wearing clothing reminiscent of Victorian times with a tinge of goth and an aura of darkness. She wondered if he was a wizard of some sort.

A girl ran up to him, "Victor," She addressed urgently. Hmph, his name was Victor apparently, how ironic. "I think they're on to us," The girl was quite odd looking as well, looking a bit younger than the boy, about Liz's age. With pale skin as white as snow, and long hair white hair tinged with a light blue, the ends sticking out like mere icicles. Like the boy, she also gave out this odd, dark aura. Liz blinked, was she a witch? Why were witches here? She looked around, she noticed that the party had gotten more crowded, many noticeable witches were there, standing next to fairies and Specialists like they were buddies.

"Calm down, Blanche," The boy, Victor, said smoothly, "It's only the party starting. Witches and wizards of Cloudtower have been sneaking into this party for nearly five years and everyone doesn't seem to mind. So don't fret, dear cousin."

The girl, Blanche, pursed her lips, "Fine," She said, turning her heel, "But if we're going to get exposed-"

"We won't," Victor insisted.

Blanche was about to speak more, but she caught sight of a certain redhead. Her eyes widened as she took a step back, as if Liz would burn her had she took another step towards the princess. "Fine, whatever," She said, trying to act all calm around her apparent cousin. "I'll go check on Spark, see you." With that, she left. Victor didn't seem to think much of her odd behavior as he continued looking up to the DJ booth where Max finally decided to speak.

"Okay, you heathens," Max started after tapping her mike. "I'm the one in charge of the party now, and-"

Liz thought about the odd looking girl and the boy standing near her, too distracted to hear whatever Max was spouting about as she had only one question in mind.

Who were they?

* * *

...

 _"-and so, let's get the party started!"_ The mirror showed the crowd in the party cheering as Max started to play some party-appropriate music, something that people can dance wildly to. The hooded woman can only watch the scene in mere amusement, a small, mocking smile plastered on her face.

"Hoh~? Is that so. Let's get our own party started as well, then!" She exclaimed in interest, brushing a stray lock of green hair from her covered features as she raised a hand, snapping her fingers. As if on cue, someone appeared behind her. It was another woman, or at least, her form suggested she was a woman, yet she was unidentifiable with a golden cloak covering her face and her entire body. The woman with the golden cloak bent on her knees, as if she was some sort of servant, ready to serve. "I need you to do something," The hooded woman told her.

The woman with the golden cloak kept her head down. "That will be...?"

"Watch over Arte and Pollo for me while they do their work," She told her, "Guide them, help them, just do whatever you can to make sure they are safe and are able to accomplish what they sought out to do."

"Understood," The golden cloaked woman said, "Where will they be?"

What the hooded woman said next sent chills down the golden cloak woman's spine as her shoulders tensed.

"The Kingdom of Solaria."

* * *

 **Author's notes: Lots of relevant things happened in this chapter more than I liked...oh whatever. Anyway, why was Philip acting strange? Is Emma really turning insane? Who were the two teenagers Liz saw (Victor and Blanche)? It's kind of obvious in a way, I mean, one of their names is a dead giveaway. But anyway, I hope they're not too out of place, they're going to be very, very relevant characters later on, but not in the way most of you will think, hehe.**

 **The plot starts next chapter, I can't wait.**

 **Trivia: this might be kind of out of place but I'm going to give it anyway since I don't know where to put it in the story. The reason why Daphne is still a professor at Alfea is because Oritel and Marion still refuse to retire (they missed out nearly two decades (I think?) of their reign, after all), and Daphne fully respects that so she'll just be a professor from now on.**

 **See you guys.**


	9. 8 - Rouge

**Author's notes: A late update...sorry, I guess, but this chapter was kind of hard to write so yeah. A sort of info dump at the third scene and I was kind of half asleep when I wrote it so I hope it's not too clunky or something.**

* * *

Red.

All he could see was red.

He looked around, the dreaded color was splattered on the walls and the lavish furnishings in the room, accompanied with handprints that showed nothing but agony and fear. A puddle of the color kept spreading on the already red carpet on the floor, making the carpet seem darker and more sinister. His parents would have killed him had they seen that he stained the carpet, but they can't. They can't. Not anymore.

He looked down. His clothes were stained with the color, and his hands were dripping with it too. He knew it would be a pain to clean this up, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter. Not anymore.

His panicked eyes darted to a small blade one of his hands had been clutching the whole time. With a gasp, he let go of the bloodied weapon and he watched as it hit the floor with a dull clang, merely landing next to a hand so stiff and pale, so devoid of life. A dead body. His eyes darted, there was another dead body and another. There were three dead bodies in the room, belonging to his mother, father, and older brother. There were more in the kitchen, dining room, and even the hallways, but he lost count. There was too many. Too many blood in his hands.

The usually lively mansion was deadly quiet and dark, with the full moon the only thing illuminating the room he was in. Despite the darkness, he can still see the color red all around him. The silence didn't help either as his mind ran wild with several words and phrases. Murder. Murderer. Killer. Vengeance. Kill. Murder. A murderer. You killed them. Murderer.

Lively and high-pitched giggling broke the silence, and he whipped his head to see who it was. It was them. The children who made him do this. The children with their uneasy grins and movements that mirrored one another completely. The cursed twins. "Hmm...not bad, mister~!" One of the twins, the boy, hummed pleasantly with a sweet smile.

"A bit rough at the start, but you're ready!" The other, the girl, mirrored her brother's sweet smile. However, he wasn't as enthusiastic as the twins, grabbing the small knife from the ground as he slowly rose. Within a split-second, he swiftly turned and charged towards the two children with a battle cry, the blade glinted as he aimed directly in one of their- the boy or the girl, he didn't care- hearts. However, someone else was quicker as a bright light suddenly blinded him for a second, and before he knew it, he was face-to-face with an unknown person in a golden cloak, who had jumped between them to protect the two children. For a very brief moment, he saw the hood of the person fly out for just a second and he was greeted by bright golden eyes that he could have sworn he saw somewhere else-

Before he knew it, he was blasted to a wall. He gasped as pain spread throughout his body, barely noticing that the two children were now standing over him. "Very, very bad idea, mister!" The boy, Pollo, shook his head. He felt the pain suddenly go away and he could move again, so he sat up and frowned at the children, not moving a muscle to even indicate an intention of harming them as he knew the consequences.

"Don't you want to get back at people who wronged you?" The girl, Arte, questioned. He stiffened. "You know what the yellow orb thingy does, this is your chance! Just do us a tiny little favor and you'll be good to go while we make sure everything goes smoothly, 'kay?!" She said as she extended a hand towards him. He stared at the small hand, obvious reluctance written on his face. If he grabbed her hand, then there will be no going back. It's like a deal with the devil. He pursed his lips, weighing his options, and suddenly, he accepted.

Dealing with the devil, he shall.

* * *

...

Prince Hansel woke up after hearing someone shifting around the room continuously. He slowly opened one eye open and saw a blurb of yellow move around the room, from the dresser his roommate owned to the other bed where there was a duffle bag accompanied with neatly folded clothing and other personal belongings. The room was barely lit, with very thin lights seeping from the curtains as it showed the orange, pinkish sky where the sun had barely risen. Hans groaned, he knew Stiles had always been an early bird, often waking up early just to watch the sunrise, but the guy knew better than to wake his usually grumpy roommate with his early shenanigans.

Hans groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes that begged to rest more. Stiles froze as he was just about to place his underwear in his pack, he turned to the prince and smiled bashfully. "G'morning, Hans!" He told him sheepishly, "Um, sorry for all the noise. I was just, ermm, packing."

"For what?" That question was accompanied by a yawn. "Last time I checked, the Day of the Rose won't be for two weeks."

"That's not...quite the reason," Stiles said slowly, rubbing his neck. Hansel furrowed his brows. "Remember Philip? That guy in our class whom you have a certain... distaste to," Several memories flashed in Hansel's mind. The time he pushed Philip after a frustrating battle, the time he spread nasty rumors about the boy...that one time in the party.

Hans looked down and rubbed his head. "Err, I guess." He told. Now that he thought about it, Philip hasn't been around this past week, which was bad as Hans really needed to apologize to the guy, but never had the chance to. He truly regretted humiliating the guy in public, but no one knew that, and he intended it that way. He hoped he would encounter Philip today and just apologize to him in private, also threatening him to not tell anyone that the arrogant Prince Hansel of Eraklyon was apologizing to a lowly son of an Earl. But that's not what fate had in mind.

"Well...his family had been murdered in their own home these past few days, and um, today's their funeral," Stiles informed, and it felt like a punch to the gut to Hans. "I know I'm not exactly required to attend, but I feel like I need to. Philip has been a great friend for me and big sis when we were younger, and not attending the event where he needs us the most doesn't sit well with me. And besides, people would be asking why the prince isn't in the ceremony." Hansel didn't reply, and Stiles didn't push as he continued packing his belongings. In his peripheral vision, he can see Hansel, instead of going back to bed, as usual, still looking down and holding his head, as if he was in deep thought.

"I'll come with you," Was what he suddenly said.

It took a while for the Solarian prince to register. "Pardon?" He blurted, blinking.

"I'll come with you," Hansel repeated nonchalantly as he stood up, grabbing a blue suitcase under his bed. Stiles continued blinking.

"Why?"

"Nothing much," Hansel said, placing his clothing on the expensive suitcase.

"But you didn't ask for permission from the headmaster, you'll get in trouble," Stiles told him. He had asked permission from Headmaster Helia last night and after a moment of reluctance, it was accepted. At least Stiles had a reason to go, an Earl of his kingdom had died. Hansel didn't have a reason, sure Eraklyon and Solaria had been allied realms for a while now but there was no reason for a crowned prince of one realm to go to the funeral of the other realm's insignificant Earl, especially on a school day.

Hansel didn't seem to care a bit, still determined to go to Solaria and do...whatever. "So?" He asked. "Doesn't matter."

Stiles pursed his lips, "But why, though?" The prince didn't respond, merely continuing on packing his belongings. Stiles frowned and observed the prince, before heaving a sigh as he continued with his own packing. "Okay, then, you can come with me!" He decided. "We'll leave at six o'clock sharp and I'll stay there for about two or three days, it's your choice if you wanna leave early, though. Okay?" He smiled at the prince.

"Okay, I guess," He heard Hansel mutter. Content, Stiles turned back, failing to hear a quieter, sincere 'thank you' from the arrogant prince.

* * *

...

Lana sighed as she walked through the halls of Alfea, her destination being her first class for today. She had already split ways from the rest of her suite mates as they were lower years, and Brittany had left earlier this morning to attend a noble family's funeral, something like that, Lana guessed, as the note Brittany had left on her nightstand was vague and scribbled messily, as if it was written at the last minute, which stung Lana a bit with the thought that her roommate didn't deem her important enough to be woken up and told personally. She didn't consider herself a morning person but it's not like she turns violent when woken up either, the last time she was woken up by Brittany was just a few days ago...when she lashed out and threw a lava lamp at Brittany who only wanted to borrow a straightener- you know what? Maybe it was better off that Brittany didn't try to wake her up this time.

Finally, she arrived in the classroom. Professor Daphne wasn't in yet so many students have huddled around in small groups around the classroom, chattering about anything under the sun, like some cute boys they saw, makeup and clothes, maybe complain about classes, and of course, recent events.

"Lana!" Someone called out, and Lana whipped her head to see a young aristocrat from Melody. "Where's Brittany?"

"She left to attend a ceremony back home, I guess," Lana murmured as she sat down on her desk, trying to be brief. She felt like she has no place to talk about it, if Brittany was vague in her note, then that must have meant it was confidential or something.

"Is it true that there was a massacre in Solaria a few days ago?" Another aristocrat questioned a bit too eagerly as she planted her hands a bit too loudly on the princess' desk. But then Lana remembered that she was from a family of witches so it's no surprise, really. "And there's a sort-of private funeral held today?"

Lana shrugged, showing genuine ignorance of what's happening in her roommate's realm. "I really don't know guys, just ask Brit when she comes back."

The girls who had gathered around the princess of Andros pursed their lips as they exchanged looks, not satisfied with the answer. But before they could push for more answers from the girl who obviously has as much knowledge as they have about the situation, hushes filled the room as the fairies scurried back to their seats. Lana blinked but knew immediately as Professor Daphne gently set a book on her desk and looked at everyone. Her eyes examined all the desks and its occupants, as she usually did, and everyone was surprised when she looked over the empty desk beside Lana and merely ignored it. "Okay, I believe everyone is already here so we'll begin our lesson-"

"Um, miss?" A fairy- Ada, the princess of Zenith, Lana recalled- raised her hand awkwardly. "Brittany isn't here."

"I've been informed," Daphne nodded, "There was a family emergency back at Solaria and she has been excused from classes for a few days."

"What kind of family emergency, miss?" Another student, Tamara, questioned.

"I'm afraid that it's confidential, and has no bearing on our current lesson so kindly get your textbooks and turn to page forty-four," said professor Daphne in a slightly stern manner, and fortunately that shut the students up as they did what she said. "Has anyone heard of the term 'Malice'? More specifically, an orb or energy containing 'malice'?"

A student raised their hand, and without the professor's permission, answered anyway. "That was the thing that the Winx Club died trying to get, at least, that's what my parents said," It was the same eager, somewhat morbid fairy from earlier, her name was Raven. She was rather infamous for having a wide array of close friends, ranging from Maxine of Melody, the daughter of a Winx fairy and a well-known hero, and a witch named Blanche, a known daughter of a well-known and feared criminal and a mafia head. That's like being friends with an angel and a demon, except Max was a very mischievous angel.

Everyone's eyes went straight to Lana, being the descendant of one of the members of the new company of light. Meanwhile, Daphne shifted uncomfortably. "The fate of the new company of light is entirely debatable, but I digress. Yes, the Winx Club did try to retrieve the seven dark energies, but..."

"They died trying," Raven stated.

"We do not know that for sure," Daphne said slowly, choosing her words carefully as to not be so harsh on her students. Though she strongly believed that her little sister and her friends are still out there somewhere, she can understand why people believe otherwise. It's been fifteen years already, she's sure even the Winx's children believe they're half-orphan by now. "Also, let's not stray off topic, shall we? Now, where was I...oh, right," She cleared her throat, "The orb of Malice is a powerful source of dark energy, even the purest of creatures can be corrupted by the energy if they do so much as touch the orb."

"Yikes," one student said, and everyone agreed with that.

Daphne continued, "No one is sure as to where it originated and why, but most people believe that it came from hundreds of years ago, from powerful, yet mischievous wizards who created it just for the sake of it. It was supposed to be just one, medium sized, dark orb but the elders decided to split it up and put it into vessels as if to disguise it. However, as the elders prepared to split the orb, it went missing, and so did the vessels."

"Where did it go, and who took it?" Another student asked.

She shook her head, "No one knows, however, people seemed to be glad it was gone. Until a few decades ago, the orb resurfaced again with the vessels still missing. People didn't seem to worry much until an elder from Whisperia foretold a prophecy concerning the Orb, its vessels especially."

A student furrowed her brows, "What prophecy was that, ma'am?"

"If the orb will be split and be put into their respective vessels like it should be, it would be the end of the world. Again, no one worried as the orb was in safe hands of a family living in solitude, but with the couple massacred by their own children while they were being manipulated by a woman in the mirror, like a part of the prophecy said it would happen, everyone decided it's time to take action, and that's where the Winx Club came into the scene."

Lana could feel everyone's eyes on her again. She tried ignoring them and listened some more.

"While the Winx couldn't find much information about the culprits, however, they did try to find the vessels to try to stop, or at least, slow the villain down. They managed to find six pieces."

A student raised her hand, "Isn't there supposed to be seven of them?"

"Yes, that's correct, but again, only six was found. Queen Stella found a small hand mirror, Queen Bloom found a locket, Musa found the guitar pick, Tecna found a pair of spectacles, Queen Layla found a seashell, and Flora found a ring. They all kept it as far away from one another, in their respective realms. The seventh vessel, however, still couldn't be identified. It seemed unlikely that either the Winx or the culprit have found it, as it's the most important vessel."

"What then?" Another student question.

Daphne gave a smile of uncertainty. "No one knows. The culprit still hasn't made a move and the Winx are still nowhere to be found. Scholars are still trying to accurately decipher the rest of the very vague and cryptic prophecy, there are some guesses made, and the headmasters of the three schools are sure of a certain interpretation, but not everyone is happy about it."

"What's the interpretation, then?"

"There have been...requests to not tell it, I'm sorry," Daphne apologized, her gaze lingered on Lana and the empty seat beside her, as if she was telling them that specifically.

* * *

 **Author's notes: will try to update as soon as possible, that's all I have to say. I hope this isn't too bad or confusing.**

 **Obligatory trivia: the villains, aka the hooded mirror woman and the two twin servants, are based on Banica Conchita and her loyal twin servants on the Vocaloid song 'Evil Food Eater Conchita', which in turn, belongs to a series called the Evillious Chronicles. I kind of based a lot of this story's plot from the series, I don't know why, but it's something I guess.**

 **'Till next time!**


	10. 9 - Hers

**A/N: Finally updated! The reason why this took so long was that I had a crisis about the timeline of this story, also some things from real life but whatever. Here's the update :)**

* * *

 _"Your Highness...? Your Highness?!"_

 _The maids were panicking at this point. The young princess placed a small hand on her lips to try and stifle her giggles, her back firmly pressed against the wall right beside the door of the royal majesty's bedchamber. She was playing hide-and-seek with her maids and servants again—except maybe she's the only one who knew they were playing hide-and-seek and that the maids are on hysteria for fear that the royal eight-year-old heiress of a powerful kingdom had been kidnapped— hiding in her daddy's bedroom after she had realized last week that she was getting too big for her toy chest and her closet was getting too predictable._

 _The princess peeked her head through the ajar door, flinching when it moved a bit but thankfully it didn't creak as the palace doors get oiled regularly. Many maids and servants were running around the halls, one young servant— his name was Lemy, she recalled, as he was often the 'lucky' boy to join her tea parties— even nearly tripped on a statue of one of her grandfathers, with so many greats that she didn't bother remembering. She snickered again before firmly planting her back on the walls again,_ priding _herself for thinking of such a great hiding place. Who knew no one would think to look in her father's bedroom!_

 _Amidst her snickering, she spotted a small glint of light in her peripheral vision. Turning sharply, her brows furrowed in confusion and curiosity as she looked around for the odd light-emitting object. Her bright chocolate brown eyes found its way to a dresser in the corner of the room. It was an elaborate dresser, its color a pure white with golden designs, not a fleck of dirt or scratch was visible, though it seemed to be cleaned regularly by the chambermaids, it also looked...untouched. Frozen in time, as if no one had used it and what's on it for years._

 _"Must be mom's..." The princess muttered, approaching the dresser, her game of hide-and-seek forgotten. She barely knew anything about her mother, some snippets of their moments together here and there, but she hasn't seen the woman in years. Everyone doesn't want to talk about it, her daddy gets upset about it, and her little brother was none the wiser about their mother. "When you're older," they all said._

 _The top of the dresser was full of jewelry and makeup, and her eyes gleamed at the sight, though what really caught her eyes was the thing that glinted yet again. She looked at the source and saw a small hand mirror. Suddenly finding herself full of curiosity and drawn to the hand mirror, she grabbed it and examined it._

 _It was the size of her hand so she had to hold it using two hands, making sure to be careful and not drop and break it. It was a pretty looking mirror, it reflected her cute face perfectly and clearly, its design was as elaborate as the rest of the dresser, complicated yet elegant carvings of gold danced around the mirror, accompanied with previous gems. She didn't know why she was so interested in this hand mirror, though she did find it odd how it started emitting a yellow aura of some sort..._

 _"Princess!"_

 _She gasped, nearly dropping the mirror though fortunately it merely bounced on her palms. She swiftly turned behind her, instinctively hiding the mirror behind her back. She just had to have this mirror. She needed this mirror. Her mirror._

 _The head maid's lips were awfully thin and her brows furrowed, making her look older than she already was. "M-miss Julia!" A sheepish grin appeared on the princess' face. She was nervous, Julia was mean, to her at least. Most maids and servants wouldn't even dare to touch the heiress of Solaria, but Julia was different, she had gained the respect of the former royals and even the current king as well from all the years she worked in the palace, so they wouldn't mind if the maid would instill a bit of discipline in the young princess._

 _Julia's stern expression softened a bit after seeing where the princess had been standing in front of, feeling a sudden pang of déjà vu as she envisioned a young princess Stella sneaking into her parents' bedroom to wear her mother's jewelry many, many years ago. She sighed, the girl must have just missed her mother. "Your father's looking for you," She instead told the princess, turning back to the door and preparing to exit. Seeing as the little girl wasn't following her, she turned back, "Now, what are you waiting for, little one?"_

 _Brittany blinked for a moment, "Okay!" She smiled and skipped along the head maid, still holding the hand mirror. Her mirror._

* * *

 _..._

Philip stared at the portrait right in front of him. It was a grand portrait, bigger than most portraits in the palace and it stood out the most, with a golden frame decorated with bright gems, representing the person in the portrait perfectly. His brows furrowed at the portrait, intently focused on examining the person's each and every feature, ready, almost desperate, to connect some dots. To tie loose ends. After all, everyone desperately needed it.

His gaze shifted higher, before being greeted by those bright, golden eyes that gleamed with the brightness that can give the sun itself a run for its money. His own eyes squinted, he has seen these eyes before. Not only in countless of portraits of it in the palace and everywhere else, but in real life too...

"Philip!"

A familiar, feminine voice squealed. Philip turned back to see a glimpse of brown before being suddenly tackled into a nearly suffocating hug. He was about to push whoever was trying to kill him away, but at that moment he knew who it was. Princess Brittany.

"I heard about your family," The brunette let go of the boy and looked solemn all of a sudden. One thing Philip noticed about the princess was how she could easily shift her mood and reactions to be more appropriate to the situation. "I'm so, so sorry for your loss. I know it's not much but-"

"It's...okay," was all he said, giving a strained smile. He wanted to cry right now, curse whoever killed his family, hunt whoever did it. But he can't hunt himself, especially if he was a mere puppet to a bigger, malicious, sick theater. _If only she knew._

Brittany returned the strained smile. "What were you looking at, anyway?" She asked curiously as she looked behind the boy, wanting to change the subject. She hated sad and quiet atmospheres, it frustrated her. However, she regretted trying to change the subject as she looked at the large portrait in front of her. Bright, blonde hair, golden eyes, sun kissed skin, a smile far too similar to her own, a beautiful gown that was obvious as to who designed it, and a crown sat atop the person's head. There was a golden plaque underneath the portrait.

 _Queen Stella of Solaria.  
1986—2018  
Member of the Company of Light, or 'Winx Club'_

It looked like something that can be written on a tombstone, might as well attach an epitaph while they're at it. She didn't notice the plaque before, or maybe she did and just didn't bother reading it, but it made her sad.

"She's not dead," was all Philip said. Brittany looked up at him and raised a brow, waiting for him to elaborate. But he didn't, or at least, he didn't have a chance as a bright, cheery voice sounded throughout the grand halls. They both turned back and saw a flash of yellow and they instantly knew who it was.

"Hey!" Stiles' signature bright grin was present by the time he finally ran up to them. There was someone behind him that was trying to catch up to the prince but Brittany just assumed it was a servant so she didn't pay much mind to it.

"I've been doing fine, Stiles, really, it's fine," Philip muttered before the blond could even open his mouth. Maybe there was sibling telepathy between the princess and prince or they just lack originality, but for some reason, they always say the same thing most situations. If Brittany gave a heartfelt message in a birthday party, chances are that Stiles would give a similar message. He found it weird but got used to it.

"Okay..." Stiles raised a brow. One of the few moments the bright prince of Solaria showed genuine confusion. Suddenly, they heard footsteps behind them and they turned to see who it was. Stiles smiled at seeing the person finally catching up to him, while Brittany's eyes were wide as she frowned, looking at the boy next to her to see his reaction. Philip, for the first time in all the years she's known him, was unreadable. His normally glinting eyes were dull and devoid of anything, his facial expression stayed relax and neutral as he watched the blond boy approach them with gasping breaths as if he expected the great prince of Eraklyon to arrive. "Finally!"

Once Hansel caught up to them, he first held his knees as he tried catching his breath. "Don't you ever slow down?" He said to the Solarian prince, giving him a look. Brittany looked at her rival and was surprised, instead of some fancy royal blue suit with golden trimmings or anything elaborate that showed Hansel's title as a prince, he wore a light blue and white striped polo shirt, accompanied with jeans and some tennis shoes, his hair was a bit of a mess as well, several locks of blonde hair stuck out like a yellow flame. He looked like he just threw in random clothing and didn't bother with combing his hair. So far, this was the simplest outfit Brittany ever saw from the prince.

"My bad," Stiles smiled as he rubbed the back of his head as if to act sheepish. Hansel crossed his arms and frowned, not believing him one bit. Stiles wasn't at all that worried of pissing him off as he saw Hansel's muscles relax as his eyes darted to the boy next to the princess.

Before either Hansel or Philip could speak, Brittany beat them both to it. "What are you doing here?!" Her sharp demand made the great and marvelous Prince Hansel visibly flinch, which caught her quite off guard.

Hansel looked down like a child in trouble. "Look, I'm just here to say sorry..."

Brittany already assumed what he was going to say so she already conjured up a response without thinking. "Of course you do- wait, what?"

"You heard what I said," Hansel rolled his eyes, turning to the son of the late Earl. "I'm, err, sorry for everythin- are you okay?" Philip was holding his head as he groaned, obviously in pain of some sort.

"Philip!" Brittany gasped as Philip tried to hold on to the wall for balance.

"I'm okay, I'm okay..." He insisted. Philip didn't know what happened, he was just listening to the prince's halfhearted apology, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain somewhere in his head, harsh whispers were predominantly heard amongst a loud, urgent ringing in his ears. _Come now. Come now. Come now._

Brittany was panicking. "A-are you sure-"

"Yes, yes," Philip still insisted even though he felt like he was about to pass out. "I, um, have to go," He told them as he walked away, well, more like staggering as he held the wall for support. He needed to get there, quickly. "Please don't follow me!"

The three royals blinked at the aristocrat as they watch him stagger away to wherever he was going. "This is all your fault!" Brittany immediately snapped at Hansell as soon as Philip was out of sight.

Hansel was caught off guard as he held his arms up in surrender. "MY fault?! How is it my fault-?!"

The two rivals continued bickering with one another. Stiles learned to block out the annoying sound of bickering long ago so instead his eyes were intent on where Philip left. His brows were uncharacteristically furrowed and his lips formed a thin line.

Something was going on.

* * *

...

"Okay, girls, break time! We'll continue the lesson in ten minutes." Professor Palladium announced as yawns and sleepy cheers sounded throughout the classroom. An amused smile graced the elf professor's lips as he straightened his books and left the classroom, leaving the students alone to either take (or continue) a nap or catch up with the lesson while they were napping earlier, at least, that's what Palladium thought they'd do. But most students merely got off their seats and gathered into separate groups to gossip.

"This lesson is taking forever," Celine muttered irritably, her dozing head held by her palm as her mechanical pencil danced around her other hand. The fairy next to her, Maxine, slowly rose out of her desk with a tired, deadpanned look as she wiped some drool off of her mouth, one of her earbuds had already fallen out halfway through the lecture.

Max looked around the classroom with tired eyes. "Anything new?" She asked the person next to her. Cel responded with a similar tired expression, obviously saying 'no'. Max groaned outwardly as her head dropped to her desk with a loud thud.

Celine frowned as she looked out the window. Nothing interesting happened this week, she thought wryly, what a shame. But, as if fate was trying to prove her wrong, she suddenly saw a Red Fountain Ship _—_ an Owl, she believed _—_ suddenly land in front Alfea, hiding in the trees in the forest in front of the school. She raised a brow, why was an Owl hiding right in front of Alfea? Unless...

She jolted when her phone suddenly buzzed a familiar tune from some 8-bit game from the 80's, but she got over it quickly as she grabbed the device and answered it, knowing instantly who it was. "You're the one in the Owl outside, aren't you?"

The other line was silent for a moment. _"Yes,"_ She knew it. Callum. But what was he doing in an Owl outside Alfea? _"You see, my squad and I-"_ There was a quick shifting noise before another person was on the line.

 _"Wanna go to Solaria?"_ Leon's voice quipped smoothly. _"Apparently, Prince Hansole of Eraklyon snuck out of Red Fountain without permission and da- I mean Headmaster Helia is pissed. So he sent me and my squadron to Solaria to fetch him. Sure, he didn't say we couldn't bring people, but he never said anything against it either so if you and Max would want to join this adventure with us, then that'd be great."_

"Who's callin' ya?" Max asked curiously, her head still laid on her desk but she was facing the ginger.

"Wait a sec," Cel spoke on the phone before turning to Max. "Wanna ditch class to go to Solaria with the guys?" The answer was instant.

"Hell yeah!"

* * *

...

"A hand mirror...?" Philip murmured questioningly as the hooded woman said as she paced around in that mirror of hers. The room was dark save for the green ominous glow of the mirror the woman was in as creepy, high pitched giggling sounded throughout. It looked reminiscent of a scene from Snow White, except instead of the mirror telling the person who was the fairest person in all the lands, it told the person to do horrible things just to get one thing and one thing only.

"Yes, a hand mirror." The hooded woman confirmed, nodding as an image of it appeared. The mirror was about the size of his palm, its frames had elaborately carved gold accompanied by bright gems, and it reflected his reflection perfectly and clearly. He furrowed his brows. Hasn't he seen this mirror before? "You need to retrieve it before midnight. It's somewhere in the palace, no one knows of its power and what it's capable of, so it should be easier for you. Whoever gets in your way or has the possession of the mirror...kill them if you please. Also, Arte and Pollo will be with you to wreck havoc as they please and help you if needed. Now, any questions?"

Philip pondered if the question in his mind was worth it, it was. "What do you need the mirror for, anyway?"

What remained visible of the woman's face contorted into a smirk.

"You'll see."

* * *

 **A/N: Is this okay? I felt like I nailed the first and third scene but kind of fell flat with the second. So yeah it's the beginning of the first-ish arc of the story that I will refer to as the 'Stella Arc' because Stella's children and kingdom are the main focus on this arc, maybe she herself too, who knows...**

 **Obligatory trivia: I finally mustered up the effort to actually put up a timeline for this story, and I decided to count it as trivia. The current year for this story is 2028 and the Specialists (the Winx too) are all roughly in their early 40's. The Winx next gen were born in the years 2010, 2011, and 2012 while the Winx went missing on 2013. Does that make sense? I hope so, though I do feel I made some sort of miscalculation somewhere...**

 **Anyways, till next time!**


	11. 10- Mirror

**A/N: Hi! Sorry for the long wait. I was really busy since September and October are one of the busiest months in our school, and I was also trying to figure out what the hell I should do about Fall For You. Anyway, here's the chapter.**

* * *

"Your Majesty?"

There were grunts and noises of something heavy being shifted behind the door before the person finally knocked politely. It was a brief knock, not too urgent sounding, not too nonchalant either. Brandon looked up from his mountain of paperwork, his tired hand abruptly stopping halfway through veto'ing some man's obnoxious law suggestion after a dispute between him and his neighbor's dog. _It's been two decades already, when will that guy's complaints stop?_ He thought wryly as he cleared his throat, "Come in, Lemuel."

The servant complied and came in the office. A nest of short, reddish-brown hair, freckles dancing across tanned cheeks, dark blue eyes were half-lidded as he was adorned in an ornate servant's outfit designed by the fashion-savvy late queen herself, Lemuel stood in front of the king's desk and did an obligatory bow. Brandon couldn't help but notice two large suitcases out in the hallway accompanied with a smaller duffle bag, and immediately knew what the servant had to say.

"What is it, boy?" Brandon asked, cheek on his palm like a school girl being told some juicy gossip, his paperwork forgotten. He had this habit of acting casual around Palace staff and even aristocrats and other royals as if they were all buddies, which wasn't a bad thing, per se, but it can get a bit out of hand sometimes...

"Prince Stiles wanted me to inform you that he and Princess Brittany have arrived," The servant muttered, "They are currently in the throne room with a friend, waiting for you, Sire."

"I can already tell my daughter is here," Brandon stood up from his seat and motioned towards the large suitcases out in the hallway. Lemuel gave a strained smile, one of his eye twitching. For some reason, the princess always loved to make this one specific servant have a hard time with her, Brandon almost bets that Brittany purposely brought two large suitcases so that 'Lemy' would carry it. The king laughed and ruffled the servant's head as if he was his son, he always did that to palace staff. "You'll pull through it."

Lemuel's smile was still strained. "Thank you, Sire," he bowed and left, struggling to carry the suitcases.

Brandon watched the servant struggling, pity written on his face, before shaking his head and walking to the opposite direction.

* * *

...

A metallic thud sounded throughout the nearly empty palace halls as a pair of thin-rimmed, round spectacles made contact with the shiny marble floors. The owner of the spectacles picked it up with a scowl as she and her friends entered the halls. The guards were hesitant in letting the teenagers in at first because, on one hand, four of them were close friends of the princess and prince, but on the other hand, they weren't really invited and not to mention one of the boys were considered a minor threat. But in the end, the guards thought, ah screw it, and let them in. They wouldn't be much trouble anyway...right?

Right?

"Why do your glasses keep falling off?" Leon asked as he and his squadmates, plus his two fairy friends, walked through the halls. Most of his squad mates gawked at the grand halls and what it held, being here for the first time after all, while Leon and his friends didn't even bat an eye, having spent some chunks of their childhood playing in this Palace and many others back in the day.

"No idea," Celine frowned, shoving the glasses back on her face.

"Probably hates her face." One of Leon's squadmates, Spark, snorted. Fair, nearly pale skin, bright teal eyes, a somewhat scrawny build, and dull purple, frizzy hair in an undercut making it look like a half-shaved bush. He was wearing a standard Red Fountain uniform with a maroon gem holding his cape in place. The boy may not look much but if one were to take a look at where he came from then they'd definitely think twice about messing with him.

Celine scowled but didn't say anything. "Why even wear glasses in the first place, though? Last time I checked, you don't really need those glasses," Callum pointed out.

"It's for aesthetic purposes, brother, you wouldn't understand," Celine told him, turning away like a brat. Callum sighed and shrugged.

"Where did you get those glasses, anyway?"

"Found it while snooping around our basement." She said, taking it off to look at it. "It's not prescription glasses so it's not father's, and I don't think my late mother was the type to wear fake glasses. So honestly, I don't know where it came from but I love it."

Max took off her headphones and looked up, stopping her tracks. "Wait, where are we even going?" Everyone else stopped their tracks.

"I don't even know what we're supposed to do here so don't look at me," Another Specialist, Damian, said, holding his hands up as he shook his head. Pale skin, light blonde hair, and pale blue eyes.

Leon wanted to slap himself, "Oh, right, damn," He looked around, "Does anyone know where Hans could be?" Everyone shrugged, and Leon sighed. "Okay, to make this easier, let's split up." He turned to Max, "Since you know the palace way better than the rest of us, you'll be the leader of a group consisting of you, Callum, Damian, and Nick." Max grumbled something under her breath but nodded nonetheless. Leon turned to another one of his squadmates. "Rover, since you're a great navigator, you'll lead the rest of us. Cool?"

Rover nodded. Tanned skin, tousled jet black hair, and blue hipster glasses behind half-lidded brown eyes. "Sure, whatever."

"Okay, let's split up!"

* * *

...

"Ahh, what a pain..." Philip sighed heavily as he walked through the grand halls, frowning at his current situation. Though he was walking to try and clear his mind, the woman's words still lingered in his head. "How am I supposed to find such a small mirror in this huge palace? I can't even find my dad most of the time-" He cut himself off as he felt a prick in his chest and a sting of tears in his eyes.

His father.

"No," He muttered, wiping the unnecessary tears and shaking his head furiously. "Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it-" His chanting was cut off as groans sounded throughout the halls. Philip looked up and saw large and heavy-looking suitcases being carried by a scrawny servant. Lemy, he recalled, also known as Brittany's personal slave. "Um, hey," He said once the servant was passing by him.

Lemy groaned as he gave one more push, before standing straight and turning to Philip. "Oh, hey! Philip, right?"

"That's me." Philip smiled. Suddenly, he saw flashes of green pass behind Lemy and he instantly felt dread, though he tried not to show it. The cursed twins.

The servant didn't notice Philip's sudden panicked expression, and he seemed oblivious of the twin children playing around behind him. "How have you been?" Lemy doesn't bring up the recent incident, he doesn't think it's very appropriate for a mere servant to do.

"Um, not very well but you know why," Philip said. He needed to get out of here, both him and Lemy. He looked down at the suitcases and an idea popped into his head. "Do you need any help with that?" He asked, pointing at the suitcases.

Lemy looked at where he pointed and his face lit up. "Oh! That'd be really great- but are you sure? Don't you have anything else to do?"

The twins were climbing a pillar, the girl trying to shove her brother off with her foot while the boy clung for his life. "Yeah, no problem, let's go," He tried carrying one of the suitcases and it was heavier than he thought. _What are in these? Cement?_ He thought wryly as he and Lemy began to walk, with him trying to walk as fast as possible without Lemy noticing. Philip looked back briefly and saw that the male child, Pollo, was on the verge of falling off.

"Ahh!" A scream sounded throughout the halls, followed by a thud. Philip flinched while Lemy was startled.

"What was that?!" The servant turned around sharply, so sharply in fact that in the processs he accidentally knocked the suitcase off. The fall was hard and so the suitcase was knocked open, its contents spilling. "Oh no!" Lemy panicked as Philip looked up, the twins were gone. Philip sighed as he went down on his knees and helped Lemy put the fallen belongings back. It was filled with mostly clothing, some beauty products, and few other objects.

While folding back a dress, there was a sudden glint of light in his peripheral vision. Philip stopped what he was doing and tried looking for whatever it was. "Did you see that?" He asked Lemy, who was placing back clothes in the suitcase.

"See what?" Lemy asked after placing the clothing, before picking something up and Philip's eyes suddenly widened.

In Lemy's hand, was a small hand mirror.

* * *

...

They were in the throne room, waiting for the King. Brittany and Hansel were loudly debating over which kingdom was the best or something along those lines, while Stiles was leaning on the wall, arms crossed, pondering about something. He definitely gave off a different vibe than what he usually lets on, but no one really paid any mind to him. Suddenly, the doors opened and the two heirs stopped their bantering, turning to the door and seeing a familiar head of brown hair and a warm smile.

"Daddy!"

Brittany approached her father with the extreme tackle-hug combo, causing the brunette man to groan and stagger at the sudden force. Though, after a few moments, Brandon looked at his daughter and smiled fondly. "Hello to you too, sunshine."

Hansel awkwardly approached the father and daughter, his eyes averting to everywhere but them, "Um, nice to see you again, your highness," his voice was quieter than his usual obnoxious sneers as he rubbed his head.

"Oh, Hansel!" Brandon said in surprise as Brittany let him go, raising a brow at the blond prince at his unusually proper voice. "How many times have I told you? It's Uncle Brandon to you, buddy." He smiled at the prince, putting a hand on Hans' shoulder. 'Uncle' Brandon was a weird one, Hansel thought ever since he was a child, almost every King and Queen demanded respect to everyone around them, even his own father demanded he refer to him as 'your highness' in public. But Uncle Brandon different, being more down-to-earth and casual. "You probably already know this but your old man and I were really close back then-" Brittany and Hansel gave one another the 'look', the kind of look they and everyone else gave when they know their parents are telling a story and it's going to take a while. That kind of look.

"Hey, dad." Fortunately, Stiles snapped out of his deep thoughts and greeted his father, cutting Brandon's words short, not that the man minded.

"Stiles," Brandon said fondly as he held up his fist for his son to fist bump, to which he did, though it's less enthusiastic than usual. "How have you been, buddy? School treating you okay?"

Stiles shrugged, looking down. "The funeral, it's going to be held tomorrow, right?"

Brandon's smile dropped into a slight frown. He then remembered the reason why his kids came here in the first place. "Yes," He said, "I know that face you're making, son, what do you want to know?"

The prince was taken aback at his father's words, was he that predictable? "Um, I want to know who murdered the Earl and his family."

"Yeah, dad," Brittan said, deciding to join the conversation. "It wasn't mentioned as to who did it."

"Well, you see, no one knows. The killer, or killers, haven't been caught yet." Brandon scratched his head, "We've hired the best detectives and investigators but so far we've got nothing." He said, turning to Stiles, "Unless you have an idea as to who the culprit is?" He asked, his brow raised.

The answer wasn't immediate. "Where was Philip when it happened?"

"What?" Brittany nearly shrieked, "Are you saying Philip did it?"

Brandon blinked, "He said he was asleep while it happened."

"That doesn't make sense. The Earl's family _and_ the staff were murdered. You mean to say that everyone in the house was murdered, regardless of where they were, and Philip just so happened to be spared?" Stiles frowned. "I'm not saying he's the culprit but he may have been involved."

Everyone in the room blinked at Stiles words. Did the naive pretty boy just say that? "I've thought that too but everyone seemed convinced at his alibi for some reason."

"That's...strange," was all Hansel could say.

Before anyone could add any more to the conversation, urgent footsteps sounded behind the door, before a guard suddenly burst through. "Sire!" He exclaimed, trying to catch his breath as sweat dripped from his face.

Brandon turned away from the teenagers and walked towards the guard, his face suddenly turning serious. "What is it, Marcus?"

"One of your servants were knocked out cold in one of the hallways."

* * *

 **A/N: Finally finished it! Did you know this was started actually immediately after the previous chapter was published but I never got around to really finish it.**

 **Anyway, obligatory trivia!**

 **The fact that Brittany and Stiles have the first two letters of their names similar to that of their parents are a coincidence, at least on my part, no idea what went in Stella and Brandon's minds when they named them. Anyway, I was binge watching The Most Popular Girls in School (essentially the barbie version of Mean Girls) at the time and there was this character named Brittnay Matthews and I decided why not. While Stiles was not named after anyone in particular (maybe inspired by Stiles in Teen Wolf but I never really watched it) and named him that because I'd imagine Stella wanting her kid to have 'Style'.**

 **Anyway, till next time!**


	12. 11- Whodunit

**A/N: Trying to get back to my schedule, which is a weekly update usually on Saturdays or Sundays. Keyword on 'trying', I really hope I'll stick with this and not end up updating every month or something. I would have updated daily if I wanted to but I get burned out easily and I'm a huge procrastinator so :P**

 **Warning: Emma breaks some rules and there is intense profanity ahead, reader discretion advised.**

* * *

The winged doors of a dorm room quickly swung open, followed by several painful thuds as hard-covered books fell on someone, on the head area in particular. "We're back- oof!"

"You really need to start being careful," Liz chided as she passed by Emma, who was sitting on the ground, rubbing her head as several books laid haphazardly around her. Liz had stopped feeling empathy for her roommate, sort-of best friend after seeing her fall on her face or trip on her own feet enough times, and besides, Emma seemed resilient enough anyway, having fallen off of several flights of stairs, several potions exploding on her face, tripping over her own feet in an average of forty-two times on a daily basis, and yet suffer little to no repercussions whatsoever. It's a pretty impressive feat in itself.

"I've already come to accept my clumsiness," Emma waved it off as she got up and dusted herself off.

It was afternoon, Liz and Emma had both finished their classes and went back to their dorm. Usually, three other dorm mates would have finished their classes earlier and came to the dorm before them, but today, Liz observed, the dorm was empty and eerily silent. "Where are the others?"

Emma tapped her chin in an attempt to recall information, "Well, Lana still has a class, Brittany left back to Solaria, and Max and Cel ditched class to go to Solaria with Leon and the guys."

"Oh," what Emma said didn't process to Liz immediately. "Wait, what? Solaria? What are they doing there?"

"Apparently, an Earl and his family were murdered a week ago, now's their funeral and as the crowned princess, Brittany left to attend the ceremony."

"Okay; that makes sense...but what do Leon, Max, and Cel have anything to do with this?"

"Oh, apparently Hansel ditched class to attend the funeral too, and dad didn't take it too well so he sent Leon and his squad to go fetch him. Leon and the guys were feeling rebellious so they stopped by Alfea and asked Max and Cel if they would like to go, they said yes. He asked me too but I was in Griselda's class at the time."

"Ah," Liz nodded in understanding, "Huh, I wonder what they're up to by now..."

Emma shrugged, "No idea but it's fun I bet considering how they're getting more focus recently," she said, "Ah, I wish I could have just went with them! Like, did you know we aren't going to appear again until the arc ends? Boring!"

Liz looked at her roommate in a puzzled manner. "What are you talking about?"

"And I won't get to appear much in the next arc either! Ah! Does she hate me? I bet she hates me. The most underrated character here. I'm the most underrated character. There are Rhys and Kai too but still."

"I seriously have no idea of what you're talking about. Have you gone crazy? Should I take you to nurse Ofelia?"

Emma sighed, "I'm going to do my homework. See you." With that, she left, leaving a puzzled Liz behind.

* * *

...

"What's going on?" Brandon demanded as he rushed through the halls hurriedly with Brittany, Stiles, and Hansel right behind him. Several guards, maids, and curious bystanders crowded the middle of the hallway, though upon noticing the king approach, they immediately stepped away and made way for the royal family to see the commotion, well most of them anyway, the ones closer to the scene were too engrossed in the situation to notice his highness lightly shoving them to get a better look. His eyes widened at the sight.

"Lemy!" Brittany gasped as soon as she saw her servant friend, her eyes turning glassy and her voice cracking at the last syllable. Stiles and Hansel looked equally as shocked.

The servant boy Brandon had just talked to, Lemuel, laid on the ground, clearly out cold. Luggage was sprawled all over the place, one large suitcase was even open with its contents spilling out, but what really sent shivers down the king's spine was the puddle of blood pooling underneath the servant's head, his already red-brown hair stained, making it look redder than it already was.

"Blunt force trauma," The palace doctor tending to the servant concluded, shaking his head as he stood up, "Let's take him to the infirmary for treatment and some tests," He turned to the clearly concerned king, "We'll try our best, your highness," with a bow, the doctor left with two guards and the servant on a stretcher. The crowd looked at the descending figures and kept whispering to one another, before they each broke off from the crowd and went their separate ways, leaving the royal family, an Eraklyonian prince, and some guards to the crime scene.

"Princess," one of the guards approached the visibly shaking fairy, "one of your luggage appeared to be ransacked when we appeared on the scene, and suspect that something might have been stolen. Only you can verify it, your highness."

Brittany stared at the guard with wide eyes, before her eyes darted to the opened suitcase. She approached the suitcase and knelt down, looking through her things, there wasn't much to be stolen from in this suitcase, it mostly consisted of inexpensive things she could replace with a snap. Well, except...

"My mirror," Brittany said as soon as she went through each and every stuff in her suitcase. She went through her belongings yet again to confirm that it's missing and indeed, it was nowhere to be found. Her heart immediately sank. "Oh no..."

Everyone looked at each other worriedly as they approached the princess, Brittany had never looked this distressed before. "What's missing, sweetheart?" Brandon asked, kneeling down next to his daughter.

"My hand mirror," she murmured, her hand over her mouth. "It's not here...it's like my favorite thing ever and I never go anywhere without it and..."

"What does it look like?" Hansel asked curiously, crouching down next to her as well. As much as he wanted her to get angry at him during their playful rivalries, he hated seeing her genuinely upset. He hated seeing anyone so genuinely upset.

"It's about the size of a palm, oval in shape, and a gold frame with gems on it," Stiles recalled, tapping on his chin as he looked at his sister for confirmation. Brittany nodded. For some reason, the hand mirror has been etched in his mind ever since he was seven or so, and always identified the mirror as his sister's favorite thing, never seeing her go anywhere without it.

"We'll try looking out for it, your highnesses," the guard said, "though, one of the detained suspects might have it in their possession."

Brandon whipped his head to the guards, his brow furrowing. "Suspects? We already have suspects?"

The guards nodded, "We caught them near the scene when we arrived,"

Stiles raised a brow, "Are you really sure they were the culprits?" The guards merely shrugged.

"No, but they were really suspicious as we couldn't identify them. They were teenagers, most were wearing Red Fountain uniforms. We suspect they were mere delinquents trying to steal but got caught and therefore resorted to violence."

Stiles shifted awkwardly, and so did Hansel. They had a bad feeling about this...

Brandon and Brittany didn't seem that bothered though, as all they were thinking was avenging the servant and retrieving the mirror. With his kingly voice, Brandon ordered,

"Take us to them immediately!"

* * *

...

They didn't even arrive in the interrogation room yet and they can already hear familiar voices protesting and arguing with the guards. Hansel and Stiles' hearts sunk lower and lower as they walked closer, while Brittany and Brandon's thirst for avenging slowly turned into confusion.

"I swear to the great fuckin' dragon that if you ask one more goddamn stupid condescending question that I don't give a rat's ass about then I will shove that hideous smirking pile of shit called your face up your ass until you vomit in your fucking pancreas you fucking asshole-!" Everyone visibly cringed at the girl's...creative vocabulary, even the guards standing outside the room shuddered at the idea. Hansel, Stiles, and Brittany looked at each other, knowing exactly who that might be.

"Please don't mind her. We didn't do it. We're just here to fetch our friend, h-here's the letter from our headmaster to prove it. No, we didn't steal anything. We don't even know who that guy was. Please just let us go..." Another, softer male voice pleaded. The voice also sounded oddly familiar.

They went in the room and the three teenager's suspicions were proven correct as soon as they saw four familiar heads, long navy blue, tousled orange, medium-length black, and short pink. Everyone in the room immediately turned to the new arrivals. The "suspects'" faces lit up when they saw the royal family, especially Max, who stood up. "Stiles! Brit! Buddies! We're buddies, aren't we?! You know we didn't do whatever, right?! We're innocent- hey, don't touch me!" Max's words were cut off as a guard held her back, she glared at him and he glared back. "Your wife is cheating on you and your 'son' isn't yours," She muttered, the guard shrunk his shoulders and backed off.

"What are you kids doing here?" Brandon asked, his voice softening as soon as he saw his buddies' kids and some boys from his old school.

Leon stood up stiffly, "We were sent here to fetch prince Hansel, sire," he pointed to Hansel, who looked sheepish, "as he left school premises without permission. I swear we have nothing to do with the incident."

Brandon sighed, 'Uncle Brandon' doesn't seem to stick with these kids. Oh well. "Let them go," he told, "They're not the culprits, I know it. They are family, after all." He said, directing his last statement at Leon, Callum, Max, Cel, as well as the other Specialists with a smile, who gladly returned the favor.

"Great! We should go now," Cel said as she walked past everyone, before stopping to Hansel and harshly grabbing his hand. "We have Prince Hansole. Let's go!"

"Wait, everyone calls me that?" Hansel asked incredulously as he was being pulled by Cel. Everyone else began to walk away as well. "I thought Bit- I mean Brittney was the only one to call me that..."

"Wait!" Brandon suddenly called out to the teenagers after some pondering. Everyone abruptly stopped to turn to the king. "It's...getting a bit late, I know it's a long way between Solaria and Magix, and I know you guys are tired. You can stay the night here, we have plenty of guest rooms for all of you. You can then leave in the morning," Everyone looked at one another hesitantly, "I'll inform Helia and Miss Griselda that you'll be staying for the night, they'll understand, don't worry about it." He smiled.

After much thought, everyone sighed. "Why not? I've always wanted to stay the night in a palace anyway," Spark said, and everyone agreed. Brandon smiled and clapped his hands together.

"Great! I'll have the servants prepare your bedrooms. Supper will be at eight o'clock sharp and-"

"Thanks, Uncle Brandon," Max suddenly said, "You're the coolest, you know that?"

Brandon was taken aback before he chuckled. "I know that," he said with a playfully smug face. "And you're welcome."

* * *

 **A/N: Does Brandon sound shady? I hope not. That's not my intention at all, I want him to be that cool and chill uncle who brings great presents and everyone likes.**

 **We have two or three more chapters for the Stella arc, one shorter chapter that will probably be up sooner (no promises, tho), and the climax/ending that may or may not be split. This is the first time I've gotten this far into a story so if my pacing is too fast or too slow or if I'm doing it wrong them feel free to tell me. After the Stella arc will be our 'favorite' redhead's time to shine, the Bloom arc, and honestly? I can't wait to get to that part, even if Bloom isn't exactly a favorite of mine.**

 **Trivia time: Stiles' character is based on Hideyoshi Nagachika from Tokyo Ghoul, a cheerful and bright sunflower boi who is also very observant and smart, even if it's not that obvious. Speaking of Hide, he is NOT dead. If anyone says he's dead, I will throttle you, whoever you are. If it's not obvious, he's my favorite character of all time, my current username, 'The Witch's Servant' is a reference to him. Oh right, I changed my username to anyone wondering.**

 **Enough ranting! Till next time!**


	13. 12- Omens

**A/N: Hi. Here's the update. Sorry for not updating in a while, it was intentional. I thought no one gave a fuck of this story anymore so I just didn't bother, but people give a fuck apparently (judging by the recent reviews and faves and follows...for some reason?) so here's the update.**

 **This was a HARD chapter to write to be honest. There's at least 5 previous attempts so sorry if it sucks. It's been a while so yeah.**

 **Also, unrelated but tomorrow's my birthday! I'll be turning *beep* tomorrow. So...if you guys don't mind, I accept reviews and faves and follows as gifts! : Please?**

* * *

"Here's your damn mirror! Take it and leave me alone! Leave, and never come back!"

Philip threw the hand mirror to the twins, who caught it with ease and cheery smiles, contradicting the dark auras surrounding them. He frowned, pure hatred in his eyes for what they made him do. He just wanted nothing more than to wipe those smug smiles off of their faces, and he didn't care if they were children or not. He just wanted to get this over with, for everything to go back to normal. He didn't even care about getting revenge on Hansel anymore. Screw him, screw her, screw them, screw everything!

But unfortunately, the twins still didn't look like they were going to leave anytime soon, and the golden-cloaked woman standing behind him resisted his temptation to straight up attack the little rascals and throw them out the window.

"Oh, but mister, we aren't done yet!" The wicked girl chirped, smug grin intact. The stupid boy nodded just as enthusiastically.

"What?" Philip snapped, eyes wide and in disbelief. "What do you mean?"

Without a word, the boy approached him, a mirror in hand. At first, Phillip backed away, expecting him to attack, but seeing his outstretched hand holding a mirror, familiar sickly green aura now surrounding it, he realized the boy was just handing the thing and accepted it. He looked into it and saw blurry dark colors at first, before it cleared to show an image of a familiar cloaked woman, a mask hiding her eyes, green hair slightly visible.

"Great job on retrieving the mirror, but unfortunately there has been a change of plans." the cloaked woman informed, her voice sounding ghostly. "You see, we are after seven ancient artifacts, and the hand mirror was merely one of them. I know you were tasked with the hand mirror, but the twins found out there was another artifact in this palace, a pair of spectacles."

The mirror briefly showed an image of a teenage girl wearing what's apparently the artifact: a pair of round, wire-rimmed spectacles. He didn't know the girl himself, but he did see her from time to time in Alfea and with Stiles and the others, so she must have been one of Stiles' friends, which makes it easier.

"So, you need to retrieve it no matter what. Then, after that, you're free. Do whatever, frolick around the castle for all I care." She told that with a scowl, but Philip squinted his eyes. Was that a fond subtle smile he just saw?

"Fine," Philip said and the cloaked woman's image disappeared. He noticed the twins were gone as well, but he knew they were just somewhere in the palace messing with people. He sighed, placed the hand mirror on his dresser, closed the lights, and went to bed.

It was a long day today, and surely a long day tomorrow.

* * *

"Ahh, I can't believe I forgot how good Solarian moon cakes were..."

Peace. Something they probably won't experience anymore in a while. Spark was rubbing his stomach contentedly as the rest of the gang lazed around in their large room as well after the lavish supper, well, more like a feast, that the king had given them despite all their shy protests. Well, at least they didn't leave much left, as nearly half of them were gluttonous.

However, while most of them were just doing and talking about whatever before they retired for the day, Leon sat next to the window, staring up at the sky intently. It was about 8 o'clock in the evening, so of course, it was reasonably dark. Though he couldn't help but notice the sky was overcast, large clouds dull and grey, obscuring the bright stars in the sky. Oddly enough, the moon wasn't obscured in the slightest, full and bright as it loomed over the kingdom eerily.

It was going to rain.

Leon's eyes widened. It never _ever_ rained in Solaria, and if it did, people considered it a bad omen, which it was, as whenever it rained it was caused by some evil wizard during his late mother's golden years. And so, Leonard Wren of Linphea, a superstitious person at heart, gulped.

Something bad was going to happen.

"'Yon?" He looked up and saw Max with her head turned to him, tilting questioningly as if to say 'are you alright?'. 'Yon was a nickname Max had given him when they were younger when she complained that 'Leon' or 'Leo' was too much of a bother to say, though the name never really stuck, Max seemed to call him that every once in a while, especially if she was being genuine.

"It's nothing," Leon waved, trying to look as calm and collected as possible. He didn't want to worry them, to give off some false alarm. He had to be absolutely sure before he could give off hints. He looked around, "Hey, where's Cel?"

"She said she's going go to the bathroom but at this point, I think she drowned herself in the toilet." Spark joked.

Callum frowned before he looked down. "Eh, not too far from the possibility."

Damian stood up from where he was sitting and stretched. "Ah, well, I'm going to hit the hay. It's been a long day and all I want is to lay. G'night." He left the room (the guest rooms were separated for boys and girls because you know). Spark, Rover and the other irrelevant Specialists walked out the room.

Just as the other Specialists walked out, Celine walked in with her usual snarky look, usually, no one would pay any mind but Callum looked at her twice and noticed her rather stiff posture. "Cel?" Callum called, "Are you okay?"

"I think I'm going nuts," Cel said, Leon noticed she wasn't wearing her glasses and instead was clutching it in one of her hands a bit too tightly. "Well, that or I'm going blind."

"Why, what happened?" Leon asked, a bit too urgently.

Celine held out her spectacles to show her friends before she sighed. "I have no idea anymore. These glasses...I can see certain things when I look through it."

"That's so cool," Max said.

"What?" Callum asked incredulously, wanting her to elaborate.

She sighed, "Well, I was walking through the halls, minding my own business right? But then these kids- running around and swinging around the pillars and I tried not to bother them 'cause they might be some Duke's kids and I might get sued- started attacking me for no reason!"

Her brother's face scrunched into a face of disbelief and doubt. "What-"

Max shoved her finger to his lips to shush him. "Shush. I wanna hear the story of Cel getting attacked."

Cel rolled her eyes. "Anyway, they weren't much of a problem, they're kids after all, but then here's the thing: when the boy tried to punch me in the face, he managed to knock out my glasses," she gestured to her spectacles, "and when I looked up, they were gone! Like they weren't there all this time." She sighed, sitting down on her bed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked down to her glasses, her lips thinning. "I'm not the best at explaining stuff, but long story short, I could see certain things when I wear these. Is this cursed? Am I going nuts?"

"You're nuts." Max simply said, walking to her and swiftly grabbing the 'cursed' spectacles, before putting it on herself. "See, there's nothing here- what the actual fuck-" A hooded figure in the corner, her (or at least, it looked like a her) cloak was a bright golden color, familiar blonde hair seeping from the hood. Even from the dark corner, she still shone faintly, like the moon, still shining weakly in even the most dreary of nights.

Immediately, she threw the pair of spectacles and looked at the corner again. There was nothing. "What?" Callum asked, confused. "What happened?"

"You didn't see that?" Max practically demanded, nearly shrieking. Confused and slightly terrified, Callum and Leon shrugged. "There was someone in a cloak standing there, I swear!"

"Told ya," Cel muttered.

Curious, Callum walked over to the fallen spectacles and picked it up, almost putting it up to his face before Leon slapped it off of him. "There is definitely something going on with this," Leon muttered, examining it but never putting it on. "We're going to have to consult the headmasters about it when we get back," he said as he handed it back to Celine, "for now, hold on to it."

She bit her lip, "But-"

"It's getting late," Callum observed, looking down at his wristwatch. "Leon, let's go before Nick starts being an ass and locks the door on us."

"Ah, right," Leon said, following his friend to the door. He looked back to the two fairies and waved. "Good night, see you both first thing in the morning." And with that, the door shut closed.

* * *

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright!"

It was morning and Brittany and Stiles were in the infirmary to check on their servant/friend, Lemy. He still didn't have much energy and still seemed dazed, but otherwise, he seemed fine, so Brittany didn't hesitate to tackle him into a hug.

Air was knocked out of him and he was caught off guard but nonetheless, Lemy chuckled. "Yes, princess, I'm fine. No need to worry about me."

Brittany finally let go of him as she sat on the bed, her relieved expression soured and was turned into sadness. "What happened?"

Lemy stopped chuckling. "I...don't know. I was just bringing your luggage to your room when someone knocked into me and everything blacked out, or...I think."

Stiles, casually leaning on the wall by the door, looked at the servant with furrowed brows. "Who did it? The one who knocked you out."

"I...don't remember," Lemy said slowly, scratching his bandaged head as he looked down. He thought about it long and hard, digging through blurry and incomplete memories, straining his already damaged head.

"Y-you don't need to push yourself too hard-" Brittany said, noticing his great difficulty in remembering.

"It was him," Lemy said suddenly after overcoming a brief realization. He looked at the Solarian siblings with wide eyes.

"Who?" Stiles nearly demanded, almost impatient.

Eyes blank, voice monotone, he said, "It's..."

* * *

A funeral service was held for the fallen Duke and his family. Many royals and aristocrats, even some peasants mourned for them, whether it was genuine or not, it didn't matter. The ceremony was rather large, many flowers and people wearing monochrome colors, sniffles and the sound of tissues being blown. King Brandon, with the two previous rules behind him, Radius and Luna, was in the middle of some speech. Though the king tried not to look like it, it looked like he was about to cry.

Hansel was among the crowd of middle-aged women blowing into tissues even if he and everyone knew they were disingenuous tears. He sighed, looking at the crowd for any familiar people. Leon and the rest of the sophomores (except for Stiles, wherever he was) were in the corner, some looking disinterested. Well, he knew they were only there to wait for him before they dragged him to the ship and back to Red Fountain, where he'll be inevitably yelled by Headmaster Helia and probably made to be cleaned the dragon stables if he's lucky.

He continued looking around and immediately saw Philip. Surprisingly, he was standing in the corner instead of in the middle of the crowd, looking rather distant and desolate. Hansel bit his lip as Philip looked up and their eyes met. His eyes looked dull and blank.

Hansel was about to call out when he realized he was at a funeral service. After being shushed by some old woman, he looked up again and saw Philip was gone. He looked around frantically and saw Philip exiting the crowd. And so the prince did as well, navigating through the sea of mourning people and trying to keep track on him.

He needed to apologize to him. He knew he already did, but it was brief and he felt like his apology wasn't genuine enough. He needed to apologize personally, just the two of them, so Philip can yell and hit him and all the weight will be lifted from his shoulders.

"Philip, hey!" He started to yell as he entered the empty halls and away from the funeral service. But his yells fell on deaf ears, unfortunately, and Philip continued walking. Hansel continued following (well, more like chasing Philip, poor guy) Philip, until he saw Philip go into his bedchamber from a distance. Hansel frowned and ran faster before he reached the door to Philip's room and noticed it was ajar.

Catching his breath momentarily, Hansel approached the door slowly and knocked, causing the door to open entirely. "Philip...?"

"Oh, hey..." Philip said rather lamely, not turning to him. "What's up?" There's something about his voice that sounded so...eerie.

"Well, I just wanted to..." Hansel's words were cut off as soon as he saw a familiar bright glint on Philip's dresser and his eyes widened.

"Wanted to what?" Philip asked, his voice now mockingly sweet as Hansel felt an eerie and strong presence behind him. But Hansel didn't pay the presence to mind, instead looking at the object on Philip's dresser.

On the dresser, laid a familiar golden hand mirror.

* * *

 **A/N: I actually can't wait to write the next chapter.**

 **No trivia 'cause I can't think of any.**

 **Does this chapter make sense? I hope it does.**

 **What do I usually say at the end of each chapter? Ahh I forgot.**


	14. im por tant!

**Alright, I usually don't do these author's note chapter thingies, but u know what, fuck it. I kinda need to make this, to give you guys some answers and also I need your input in this. Please read this and review your opinion if you want this story continued, please. This isn't me being a thirsty bitch, I legitimately need your input so I won't end up doing anything you guys won't like.**

 **Okay so there's a reason why I haven't been updating this in a while, many reasons actually, but there's one main reason why.**

 **I don't like where this story is going.**

 **The plot is a fucking mess and doesn't make any sense, there's so much characters to the point where I feel suffocated just thinking about them, I'm not even sure what the villains' motives are lmao.**

 **And so, after some thinking, I decided that this may need a rewrite. (hopefully this won't end up like fall for you ahah)**

 **So for the plot, I think it will remain roughly the same, only it hopefully won't be as convoluted and confusing as I made it out to be.**

 **Okay so this is where I need all of your input: the Characters**

 **As I said, there's too many characters. I can't write about all of them, and the story feels too crowded. So, we'll have to get rid of some of them.**

 **Truthfully, I don't really have any attachments to any of them. But some of you might have. So, review the characters you like and don't want to go, and also the characters you don't particularly care for and don't mind them being gone.**

 **Here are my thoughts:**

 **-Hansel** is an okay character, maybe a bit annoying but his flaws are valid so I'll probably keep him. Just going to change his name or something

 **-Liz** is an okay character as well, maybe a bit bland but I think she's a solid, naive, down to earth character that can act as a straight man to everyone else's shenanigans. perfect for a main character. so I'll probably keep her as well.

 **-Britany...** I don't like her. Her character is somewhat solid, but there's just something I don't like about her. Maybe it's just her name or her appearance but I'm just not satisfied with her as a character. I may keep her, I may not. Let's see.

 **-Stiles.** I don't like him either for the same reasons as Britnay. He's an interesting character, sure, but there's just something about him that I don't like. I'll have to think about it more.

 **-Emma-** She's okay. I may get rid of her because she doesn't have that much impact in the story anyway.

 **-Leon** I'm keeping him. Perhaps I'll redesign him and quirk his personality a bit but Leon's definitely staying

 **-Maxine-** I want to keep her as well, but like Leon, I'll have to redesign her and change her personality a bit. Also her name. Going to change her name.

 **-Rhys-** Thinking of getting rid of him since I don't really have anything for him so he's basically dead weight for me this whole time simply because I wanted a MxR son lmao

 **-Cel-** thinking of getting rid of her. As interesting a character she is along with her dynamic with Cal, I'm really not feeling her :/ and as someone who stans most of my TxT kid oc's that isn't good at all.

 **-Cal-** if I'm thinking of getting rid of Cel, then you bet your ass I'm thinking of doing the same for Cal. Same reasons.

 **-Lana-** I may get rid of her too. I don't know I just don't like her :/

 **-Kai-** Thinking of keeping him. Because even if he hasn't appeared much, he's actually much more fleshed out than most characters lmao

 **I'm thinking of at least a maximum of 8 kids. 4 daughters and 4 sons, like in ffy. So we'll have to get rid of 4 characters. And my verdict so far is to get rid of: Emma, Cel and Cal, Rhys, and Lana. Which is kinda too much but these are just my thoughts. Your thoughts matter, too.**

 _ **So, i repeat. Comment the characters you want to stay (and maybe say why), and comment the ones you don't like or particularly care for. It'll help me out lots. thank**_

 **Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's go to the villains. Honestly I think they're going to stay roughly the same save for name and appearance changes. Maybe their roles will change too idk**

 **I think that's all I'm planning to say, actually.**

 **OH also. I noticed someone pm'ed me back at August about this story. Honestly? I'm sorry for not responding to you lmao, I lost access to my emails and I barely ever check this site anymore. So sorry.**

 **I don't recommend any of you to message me here at all because there's a 80% chance I won't respond. You can message at Tumblr (meirisuu . tumblr . com), or hecc, even Winx amino if you're there. I'm not active there anymore but there's a higher chance of me responding there than here lmao.**

 **Okay so that's it for not so uh. see ya**


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